Research needs ministers to return with more than warm words
First, the good news. As the academic year draws to a close, one thing the sector can feel relieved about—alongside the prospect of a month with slightly fewer Zoom calls—is that, financially at least, the worst predictions of how 2020-21 would play out for universities have not come to pass.
A report from the Office for Students, England’s university regulator, published last month, projected that overall income for registered higher education providers would increase from £34.7 billion in 2018-19 to £40.7bn by 2023-24. The OfS said that despite an expected “decline in financial performance and strength in 2020-21”, almost all higher education providers were managing their financial risks well.