Universities UK warns of “worsening trend” as institutions slash spending
Four out of five universities are looking at cutting research spending, with 19 per cent having already done so in the last year, according to a survey by Universities UK.
The survey results illustrate a “worsening trend” around R&D activities, the vice-chancellors group said on 6 May, as the financial crisis afflicting Britain’s higher education sector bites.
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of UUK, said “the reality for most universities is that they have had to make serious cuts”.
“Falling per-student funding, visa changes which have decreased international enrolments and a longstanding failure of research grants to cover costs are creating huge pressures in all four nations of the UK,” she said.
Cutbacks increase
According to a survey of 60 universities, some 79 per cent of respondents said they may consider cutbacks in R&D in the next three years, up from 34 per cent last year. The survey, carried out in March this year, found that 19 per cent of respondents had already reduced spending on academic R&D, up 5 percentage points on last year.
Meanwhile, 18 per cent of universities said they had cut back on funding for early career researchers, with the same proportion saying they had reduced the amount of staff time allocated to research. Some 26 per cent said they had cut the amount of support offered to staff for research grant allocations.
“Our universities are something the UK can be genuinely proud of,” Stern said. “They contribute over a quarter of a trillion pounds to the economy each year and are essential to the government’s growth ambitions and the UK’s future economic success. We need them to be firing on all cylinders.”
The UUK survey found that 49 per cent of UK universities responding had shut down courses as a result of the current financial crisis. The vast majority (88 per cent) said they may need to consider further course closures or consolidation of courses over the next three years.
Appeal for government support
Stern said that university leaders are “gripping the problem” but that “we need governments in all four nations of the UK to do their bit”.
“That means increasing per student funding; stabilising international student visa policy; and working with us to sort out the research funding system,” she added.
UUK’s efficiency taskforce, which is looking for ways that universities can cut costs through collaboration, is expected to release its findings in the coming weeks.
Last week, the taskforce’s chair, Nigel Carrington, said that changes to the regulatory system for higher education in England would be needed to enable universities to “go further, faster” in driving greater efficiency.
Stern said there is “a long list of things government does which imposes cost or barriers to collaboration which we want to work through, item by item, to get the barnacles off the boat”.
