Ins and outs

Promising financial data and a two-year graduate work visa should be welcome news for universities

As Mr Micawber says, “Annual income 20 pounds, annual expenditure 19 [pounds] 19 [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income 20 pounds, annual expenditure 20 pounds ought and six, result misery.” Yesterday, our universities’ finance directors were thumbing through the publication of provider finance data for 2019-20 by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

The period covers the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, when university campuses were closed down in March last year and many institutions refunded rent on student accommodation. The Hesa data, then, should be an early indicator of how university finances have been affected by lockdown.