English universities lobby government for bailout after A-level results

Universities have lobbied the government for a bailout package after the Department for Education U-turned on capping student numbers. 

Universities UK (UUK) and Million Plus have asked the government to provide money for any institution financially affected by the A-level chaos, which may lead to a “significant minority” of institutions losing hundreds of students each, according to Times Higher Education. 

A-level results are now determined by teacher predictions instead of an algorithm, which downgraded a third of marks, meaning more students received higher grades. 

UUK have argued this could lead students towards higher-quality institutions and significantly penalise universities that require lower entry grades. 

Newer universities have also argued that the government should drop its proposed financial support for ‘research-intensive’ universities, given they are likely to financially benefit from a greater number of domestic students with high grades. 

The government has recently prioritised a ‘restructuring regime’ that would focus on bailouts being linked to institutions focusing on courses that deliver high graduate earnings. 

A rough calculation of the bailout size would be an institution receiving £9,250 per student lost, multiplied by three to account for three years of a course, meaning a university that lost 200 students would receive £5.6 million, according to Times Higher Education. 

Universities are still facing a shortfall of billions of pounds due to lost income from international students, refunds and empty accommodation

– Professor Mark Fellowes

Andy Westwood, professor of government practice at the University of Manchester, stated that lower-tariff universities were “bailing out young people and ministers in that initial phase after exam results were published”. 

He also stated that those universities were “serving towns, cities and communities that need all the help they can get”. 

Professor Mark Fellowes, pro-vice chancellor for academic planning at the University of Reading, stated that “universities are still facing a shortfall of billions of pounds due to lost income from international students, refunds and empty accommodation”, according to HuffPost UK. 

Professor Fellowes also remarked that the “government’s answer was to say no to a bailout, but to spread the pain around by imposing a student number cap”. 

One source at a London university stated that “over summer the usual money making schemes unis have were dead”. 

The source also remarked that “as well as robbing universities of income from catering, sports events and graduations, empty campuses mean no conferences or external events could be held to boost coffers”, according to HuffPost UK.