- University leaders gather as new
report reveals UK higher education has a £130bn economic impact
The new President of Universities UK (UUK) has used her inaugural
speech to celebrate the role of universities in driving social
change, generating jobs and tackling the UK’s biggest challenges,
but called on government to back universities and protect the
transformative benefits of higher education.
As 300 senior university leaders gathered at the University of
Manchester for UUK’s Annual Conference, a new report by London
Economics shows that in 2021/2022, universities had a
positive economic impact of £116 billion, and supported 760,000
jobs. Nearly half (382,500), are indirect, employed by local
businesses such as restaurants and retailers who benefit from the
economic stimulus universities create. Taken alongside existing evidence
showing a single cohort of international students generated
£14.8bn, it brings the total economic impact from UK universities
to over £130bn in 2021/22.
But Professor Mapstone— Principal and Vice-Chancellor of
the University of St Andrews—warns that this positive
activity cannot continue without the right support, and
highlighted that funding is at its lowest point in 25 years, with
tuition fees in England to be worth only £5,800 in 2011-12 prices
by 2025-26.
Arguing that “this situation must not persist”, she said that
universities need a sustainable funding model to reverse the
long-term decline in funding for teaching, ensure a greater
proportion of research is covered by public grants and to better
support innovation.
Professor Dame Sally Mapstone said:
“We need to be upfront about what is required: increased public
investment, and in teaching funding a potential rebalancing of
who pays for the costs of higher education, retaining but
reforming the income contingent loan system in England. Higher
education and research is neither a wholly public nor private
good and its funding model must carefully balance this.
Reflecting on the wider climate of fiscal tightening, Professor
Dame Mapstone spoke about the role universities must play in
stimulating stronger economic growth.
She said: “It is clear that the UK economy has a growth
problem….As a nation we must address this challenge, I believe
our universities can and should play a key role. We know that
increased levels of higher education have been the main factor
making a positive and consistent contribution to productivity
growth in the UK in recent years. And when it comes to research,
every £1 invested to help businesses and academic partners
collaborate on research and development reaps a benefit of £7 to
£8 of net Gross Value Added.”
Professor Mapstone also called on the university sector to be
‘realistic’ as it seeks to gain increased public investment:
“To gain the increased investment we need, we must help earn it.
We cannot ask for increased public investment in the current
context unless we have done everything we can to ensure our
universities and the ways they operate are as efficient and
innovative as possible. We must make absolutely sure that we are
delivering value for money and high-quality education to our
students.
“I believe that it is imperative that we face head-on the
question of whether and how we are delivering quality education
to our students. If we don’t, we run the risk of undermining not
just our hope of sustainable funding but also our reputation as
institutions that are here to serve and act in the best interests
of others.”
The London Economics report – commissioned by UUK - is published
alongside a series of case studies, outlining how universities
are transforming local communities, meaning people up and down
the UK benefit from our world leading higher education sector,
whether or not they have a degree.
Commenting further on the announcement earlier today that a deal
has been reached on association with Horizon Europe, Professor
Mapstone warmly welcomed the agreement and said:
“We know that international collaboration with our closest
partners is fundamental to our future success and to the
government’s ambitions for us as a global science superpower.
Horizon Europe has been the basis of scientific collaboration for
over 30 years … Horizon lets us do things that would not be
possible without that scale of collaboration.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1) More detail on the findings of the report by London Economics,
commissioned by Universities UK, is available here:https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/impact-higher-education-sector-uk
2) Professor Dame Sally Mapstone’s speech is attached to this
release, or available here. News (universitiesuk.ac.uk)
