Invest in universities in the Autumn Budget to drive economic growth and create opportunities for millions, says Universities UK

To build a country fit for the future, and not the past, government must invest in the UK's world-class higher education sector, starting with the Autumn Budget, says Universities UK (UUK).  

In its submission to the Treasury, UUK highlighted how universities power economic growth, with every £1 of public investment into higher education generating over £14 in economic output. In 2021-22, the higher education sector contributed an enormous £265 billion to the UK economy.  

On top of their vast economic benefits, universities produce world-leading research, equip learners with skills for the future, act as pillars of their communities and create new opportunities for millions. In its recent ‘Blueprint for change', UUK set out the steps the government and universities must take together to create a thriving higher education sector that will drive the UK's economic growth over the next decade. For their part, UUK will lead a major new programme of work to support university transformation and efficiency. It will launch this Autumn, building on work we have done as part of the Blueprint, and during the course of the last year as universities work to streamline how they operate. 

However, to ensure they can meet the needs of the country, government intervention is also needed to get universities back on stable financial footing.   

In the Autumn Budget, Universities UK says government should: 

For England: 

• Improve funding for the most disadvantaged students- increase the value of the whole maintenance package in line with inflation, and uprate household income thresholds which have been frozen since 2008. 

• Stabilise university finances- increase funding for teaching to meet their real costs through a combination of index linking fees to inflation and increasing the Strategic Priorities Grant. 

Across the UK:  

• Invest in a research sector to support government's Industrial Strategy- introduce an ambitious GDP based R&D intensity target, covering both public and private investment, that matches the most competitive and innovative countries in the world and, in particular, increasing Quality-Related research funding to make research sustainable . We are also calling on government to ensure that the costs of association to Horizon Europe are not tucked into the existing research budget. 

Vivienne Stern MBE, Chief Executive of Universities UK said: 

“The higher education sector is one of the UK's greatest strengths and a national success story that the government cannot afford to let slide into decline.  

“Universities are pillars of local communities, creating opportunities people may not otherwise have and injecting billions into local economies. We should feel incredibly proud as a country that we have built thriving hubs of research that drive innovation with industry in every part of the UK.  We're now at a pivotal moment where if we invest in university teaching and research, we will see the benefit across the economy, communities and to people's lives. But if universities are neglected in the Autumn budget, we risk sliding into decline with the UK falling behind in an area where today, it has a considerable advantage over its global competitors.”