Universities Scotland has been invited to give evidence to the Education, Children and Young People’s Committee on 4 June for a one-off session on the financial sustainability of the university sector. Our Director, Claire McPherson, will appear for US as part of a panel alongside three Principals.

You can read our written submission here. Key points include:

• There is a “perfect storm” of funding pressures bearing down on Scotland’s universities. No university is immune to this, despite variation between the financial position of institutions.
• The status quo is failing to ensure financial sustainability for Scotland’s universities. We need action in the short term in the 2026/27 budget – and cross-party engagement on how to ensure a long-term stable and successful financial future.
• Nine universities reported adjusted operating deficits in AY 2023/24.
• Collectively, the higher education sector’s underlying operating surplus fell by 92% in one year, from £211.7million in 2022/23 to £17.2 million in 2023/24.
• The amount of public funding invested in every Scottish undergraduate place was 22% less in 2024/25 than it was in 2013/14.
• No university wants to be in this position. The extent of financial pressure is now such that universities can no longer protect students or staff from the impact. We are seeing multiple institutions forced into voluntary and/or compulsory redundancy programmes. A survey of cost mitigations in the UK university sector found that by 2025, 18% of HEIs had closed departments, 55% of universities have consolidated courses (up from 23% a year ago), 60% have scaled back on maintenance and repairs on facilities, and one in five had reduced investment in research, with 79% expecting to have to do so in the future.