Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students

Education Committee Open Inquiry
Opened: 12 Jun 2025 Parliament page
The UK’s higher education sector is in trouble. Dozens of universities are making redundancies and cuts to courses, trying to stay afloat amid uncertainty over where their money is coming from. The Education Committee will look under the bonnet at what is going on. In a focused single evidence session … Read more
36 Recommendations
25 Conclusions
1 Report
3 Oral sessions
11 Letters
3 Events
Activity timeline 16 events
22 Jul
2026
Report published
12 May
2026
Report published
14 Apr
2026
Correspondence
24 Mar
2026
Correspondence
13 Jan
2026
Correspondence
9 Dec
2025
Correspondence
25 Nov
2025
Oral evidence
21 Oct
2025
Oral evidence
3 Jun
2025
Correspondence
3 Jun
2025
Correspondence
20 May
2025
Correspondence
7 May
2025
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 3 sessions
25 Nov 2025
View on parliament.uk
Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students
Patrick Curry · Department for Education Susan Lapworth · Office for Students The Rt Hon. the Baroness Smith of Malvern · The Department for Education
21 Oct 2025
View on parliament.uk
Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students
Adam Leach · Civic University Network Carol Prokopyszyn · British Universities Finance Directors Group Dr David Pilsbury · International Higher Education Commission Mr Neil Smyth · Mills and Reeve LLP Mrs Dani Payne · Social Market Foundation Professor Brian Bell · Migration Advisory Committee Rachel MacSween · IDP Education UK and Ireland Vivienne Stern MBE · Universities UK
8 Apr 2025
View on parliament.uk
Higher Education and Funding
Alex Stanley · National Union of Students Andrew Bird · British Universities' International Liaison Association Dr Hollie Chandler · The Russell Group Jo Grady · University College Union (UCU) Mr Raj Jethwa · Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) Professor Dame Jessica Corner · UK Research and Innovation Professor Malcolm Press CBE · Universities UK Rachel Hewitt · MillionPlus, The Association for Modern Universities Sir Philip Augar · Post-18 Education and Funding Review
Title HC No. Published Items Response
9th Report - Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency … HC 807 12 May 2026 61 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
Clear
13 Recommendation Deferred
9th Report - Higher Education and …
The Office for Students should therefore provide guidance to universities seeking to exit or significantly...
The Office for Students should therefore provide guidance to universities seeking to exit or significantly scale back franchising relationships. (Recommendation, Paragraph 93)
Government Response
The government partially accepts the principle that providers need clear expectations but redirects the responsibility for providing specific guidance to universities on exiting or scaling back franchising relationships to the independent Office for Students.
Department for Education
View details
41 Recommendation Deferred
9th Report - Higher Education and …
The financial pressures on the higher education sector have driven the sector’s reliance on international...
The financial pressures on the higher education sector have driven the sector’s reliance on international students. This reliance has been directly driven by decisions of the Government. Immigration policies have a very significant effect on the higher education sector, and … Read more
Government Response
The government does not commit to setting out how it will support higher education institutions if international student numbers decline, instead stating that providers are responsible for managing their own financial health.
Department for Education
View details
50 Recommendation Deferred
9th Report - Higher Education and …
In its response to this report the Government should publish its impact assessment of association...
In its response to this report the Government should publish its impact assessment of association with the Erasmus+ programme and support higher education providers in maximising the benefits of our association. (Recommendation, Paragraph 250)
Government Response
The government stated that the UK will join Erasmus+ from 2027 and will continue to assess its participation at a sector level as data becomes available. A review of the UK's participation by the UK-EU Specialised Committee is expected to be published in early 2028, deferring the immediate publication of an impact assessment.
Department for Education
View details
61 Recommendation Deferred
9th Report - Higher Education and …
In its response to this report, the Government should clarify how much it anticipates it...
In its response to this report, the Government should clarify how much it anticipates it will spend on maintenance grants in 2028–29 and 2029–30 (as the Budget 2025 documents were ambiguous), the rationale for the different subjects that could be … Read more
Government Response
The government clarified the grants will be funded by the international student levy and that information on their interaction with other funding is published. However, specific spending amounts will be set out in the next Spending Review, and eligible subjects confirmed closer to 2028/29.
Department for Education
View details
Government Response AI assessment · 55 of 36 classified
Accepted 26
Accepted in Part 11
Acknowledged 6
Deferred 4
Not Addressed 2
Rejected 6
Total 36 recs + 25 conclusions
Correspondence 11 letters
14 Apr 2026 To committee Joint letter from UCEA and UUK on Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students 20.03.26
Parliament page
24 Mar 2026 Correspondence with HM Treasury on Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students dated 16.02.26 and 23.03.26
Parliament page
13 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from Minister for Skills on Higher Education and Funding, dated 19.12.25
Parliament page
9 Dec 2025 From committee Letter to Minister for Skills on Higher Education and Funding dated 09.12.25
Parliament page
3 Jun 2025 To committee Letter from NUS on follow up evidence from Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students, dated 27.05.25
Parliament page
3 Jun 2025 To committee Letter from Professor Malcolm Press CBE on Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students, dated 27.05.25
Parliament page
20 May 2025 To committee Letter from Secretary of State on Higher Education 14.05.25
Parliament page
7 May 2025 From committee Letter to Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education on Higher Education 06.05.25
Parliament page
6 May 2025 To committee Letter from Provost, The University of Edinburgh on Higher Education 25.04.25
Parliament page
29 Apr 2025 To committee Letter from BUILA on Higher Education dated 23.04.25
Parliament page
23 Apr 2025 To committee Letter from the Russell Group of Universities on Higher Education and Funding dated 16.04.25
Parliament page