Virtually every English university faces grant cuts - figures

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Education and also in Environment

Virtually every English university will see their funding slashed for the next academic year, official figures show.

Newer universities which focus more on teaching than research, and some specialist institutions will be the hardest hit.

Just one university, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will see a real terms rise in its grant.

Even the most prestigious universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, will see their funding cut in real terms.

New data published today by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) revealed that all but five of 130 English universities will see a cash terms reduction in their grant for the academic year 2011/12.

But taking into account inflationary measures of around 2.4%, an analysis of the figures suggests that in real terms, only the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will see its funding rise, up by 2.2% this year.

A spokesman said it was pleased not to be facing the same level of cuts as many other institutions but added that uncertainty about future funding remained and it was "under no illusions about the challenges ahead".

HEFCE chief executive, Sir Alan Langlands, said: "Universities that don't lose out so much are those that benefit from the very modest nature of the cut in research funding, as opposed to the more significant cut in teaching funding."

Recurrent teaching grants have been cut by 8.2% from 2010/11 grants, while recurrent research funding has been reduced by 2.8%.

The universities that are closest to 0% in terms of changes to their funding are those which have high levels of world leading and internationally excellent research, Sir Alan said, and those with good incomes from the charity and business communities.

The figures show that, in cash terms, the other four institutions to see an increase are the Courtauld Institute of Art, Imperial College London, the London School of Economics and Oxford University. All of these will see their funding cut in real terms.

Oxford's funding in real terms will be cut by 1%, while Cambridge University's will be cut by 3%.

Amongst the biggest losers are Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln, which will see its funding cut by 13.4% in cash terms, and 15.8% in real terms.

City University, London will see its funding reduced by 8.4% in cash terms and 10.8% in real terms, while funding at the University for the Creative Arts is down 7.8% in cash terms and 10.2% in real terms.

Also seeing high real terms cuts are the Royal Agricultural College (10.3%) and Sunderland University (8.8%).

All of these figures show the percentage change in a university's grant, excluding money from the University Modernisation Fund.

The one-off "university modernisation fund", set up by the Government last year, provided money to institutions to help them prepare for forthcoming spending cuts has also been removed this year.

According to the data, the University of London will see a cash terms cut of 62.6%.

But HEFCE said this is an anomaly in the data, as most of the University of London's grant comes through separate special funding. Taking this into account, their funding is actually being reduced by 1.9% in cash terms.

In total, £6.5 billion has been distributed to universities and colleges for the academic year 2011/12.

This overall grant, including capital funding, is an underlying reduction in cash terms of 9.5%, compared to what was previously expected for the academic year 2010/11.

Taking into account some special funding programmes which are ending, and the end of the one-year University Modernisation Fund, this brings the total to a 12.6% cut.

Sir Alan said it was possible and even "quite likely" that higher education income would hold up during the spending review period if participation levels held up.

The funding settlement comes at a time when universities are deciding on new fee levels for students beginning degree courses in the autumn of 2012.

MPs voted last December to raise tuition fees to £6,000 a year, with institutions able to charge £9,000 in "exceptional circumstances".

Evidence so far suggests many institutions are planning to charge more than £6,000.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: "There's a real worry that some universities will not continue to offer excellent courses for the fear that they will not generate enough profit.

"We risk seeing arts and humanities courses and departments shut down and institutions that focus on widening participation being damaged. Purely financial targets should not be the main driver of our higher education system."

Libby Aston, director of University Alliance, said: "We will endeavour to prioritise delivering a world-class experience for students but the Government needs to address the much wider economic consequences before it is too late."

Universities Minister David Willetts said: "Next year will be a year of transition to a new funding regime where more teaching funding will follow the choices of students. We recognise the vital role that higher education plays, which is why revenue funding for teaching and research in higher education could rise by nearly 10% in cash terms by 2014/15."

Shadow universities minister Gareth Thomas said: "At a time when all our major rivals are investing heavily in universities to drive economic growth, cutting by so much the engine room of innovation in our economy seems even more illogical."