Low-ranked UK universities struggle to fill vacancies after drop in overseas applicants

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Britain’s lower-ranked universities are struggling to recruit enough students after a drop in overseas applications led to increased competition to attract domestic students, data from the universities admissions service showed on Thursday.

The race for scholarships for students paying the maximum annual domestic tuition fee of £9,250 emerged as this year’s A-level, BTec and T-Level results were released amid growing concerns about the financial stability of parts of the higher education sector.

Figures released by Ucas ahead of the results showed that 123,130 domestic students were accepted into the lowest-ranked universities for autumn 2024 – down 1.4 per cent on last year. The number of UK applicants accepted into the highest-ranked universities rose 9.3 per cent on last year to 127,210.

Data reflects a rise in admissions to top-ranked UK universities after a sharp decline in international recruitment following changes to visa rules and hostile rhetoric around student immigration from the previous Conservative government.

The competition to attract domestic students is expected to increase pressure on some lower-ranked universities, many of which are already struggling financially.

The sector is struggling to cope with the fallout from a nearly 50 per cent fall in applications from overseas postgraduates last year, which typically pay £20,000-30,000 a year and have become a vital source of income.

University leaders have warned that a small number of institutions are on the brink of collapse and have called on the Labor government to take action. Steps to stabilize the industrywhere domestic tuition fees have been frozen for the past decade.

While highly ranked universities may find it easier to attract domestic students, the industry has warned that lower-ranked institutions risk being squeezed out in the race to accept as many domestic students as possible.

Rachel Hewitt, chief executive of MillionPlus, which represents polytechnics and former vocational colleges that became universities in 1992, said simply encouraging more international students to return to study in the UK would not solve the sector’s problems. structure financial challenges

“While mitigating the decline in international student numbers would help stabilise finances, it will not be a silver bullet to an unsustainable funding model. Finding a solution is imperative, so we call on the government to urgently establish a task force to this end,” she said.

Hewitt added that maintaining post-92 institutions, which often serve underprivileged communities and students, was also important to maintaining “the pipeline of skills our economy and public services need”.

Tackling Britain’s “skills gap” and fixing “broken” public services is a key part of the government’s five-year growth mandate. But Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said the government has “no plans” to increase tuition fees and has ruled out financial bailouts for insolvent universities.

Meanwhile, the Office for Students, the industry regulator, has issued a contract up to 4 million pounds to professional service firms to assist in restructuring or liquidation to prevent the risk of insolvency.

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, the sector’s main lobby group, said universities had taken steps to balance their books. She said more than 50 were making cuts and layoffs but all were facing factors beyond their control.

UUK has called on ministers to allow tuition fees of £9,250 to rise in line with inflation, improve student support and provide a “transformation fund” to help struggling universities restructure.

“University leaders and the government must work together to ensure one of the UK’s greatest assets can continue to deliver benefits to the country,” she said.