A run of grim numbers for Britain’s universities

UK universities are struggling with three grim numbers this summer. The application rate for UK 18 year-olds has fallen to 41.9 per cent, down for the second year in a row. There has been a 28 per cent fall in the number of visa applications from international students (a key source of university funding). And the Office for Students, the university regulator, has announced a contract of up to £4 million for companies to help manage a potential wave of university insolvencies this autumn. Earlier this year, the OfS warned that 40 per cent of England’s universities faced a financial deficit in 2024. Last week, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said the government had no plans to bail out insolvent institutions. Here are some more numbers to consider: £115.7 billion, the total boost to the UK economy from British universities in 2021-22; 37 per cent, the amount of taxable income graduates earn over non-graduates by the age of 31; and 41,520, the number of applications to study nursing this year, down from 43,920 in 2023. It doesn’t add up.