Written evidence by Mr Chris Pritchard (Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University) (HEF0080)

Education Committee

Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students

I am a Senior Lecturer, at a relatively large, post-1992 university (Nottingham Trent University). I am also the branch secretary of our local branch of the University and College Union (UCU), East Midlands Regional Secretary, and a member of the UCU National Executive Committee, representing members working in Higher Education within the Midlands. I welcome the opportunity to submit evidence to this call for evidence relating to the impact of Government Policy on International Students, Higher Education Insolvency Protections & the Ramifications of Institutional Insolvency & Regional Impact.

Impact of Government Policy on International Students

In England, the highly market based system of Higher Education currently in place is impacted significantly by government policy. The first thing of note is that higher education in the UK currently has significant international esteem – students come to the UK to study at our institutions and previous government policy has been to encourage this study, including through visa regimes that provide a positive environment for international students in the UK. Institutions made decisions based on this policy and overtures from the government and based financial modelling on this policy remaining in place. When changes to visa regimes, for example, restrictions on dependent visas, are made with limited notice the financial stability of (Higher Education Institutions) HEIs within the UK is impacted. Whilst, in my university, UK undergraduate student fees make up the majority of income, international student fees (predominantly in relation to taught postgraduate programmes) still represent a significant proportion of income. Whether or not there is a political will to change policies relating to international student numbers, any short notice changes, particularly when they are changes that are at odds with the current position, cause significant problems for financial planning and if they aren’t balanced with additional funding can lead to job losses and the knock on impact on local communities.

Notwithstanding UCU’s longstanding position (that I agree with), opposing the increasing marketisation of higher education, under the current system that we operate, international student fees are markedly higher than those paid by home students. Any policy that leads to a reduction in this income is going to have a knock on effect on the quality of teaching and learning offered to UK based students. As such, policies that, for example, reduce international student numbers are going to need to be balanced by an increase in funding from another source. In our current system, that funding tends to be through an increase in domestic student fees and would therefore lead to a tuition fee increase.

Teaching intensive universities, such as my own and other post-92 institutions, have had to rely on unpredictable international student recruitment to provide income, and a properly funded HE sector, moving away from a market driven approach will enable these institutions to flourish and continue to deliver the benefits that they currently deliver to the local and national economy. Unpredictability in the sector has led to institutions across my region making significant changes to staffing, including through redundancy consultations at places such as the Universities of Lincoln and Derby, and at my own institution the use of Mutually Agreed Resignation Schemes. These schemes have devastating impacts on staff, and often lead to remaining staff being expected to deliver the same volume of work with less resource. Given the education sector as a whole has a significant issue with staff workload, any increase in this is unsustainable and costly.

Higher Education Insolvency Protections

There are limited protections for staff, students, and other stakeholders (including research funders) in the event of institutional insolvency. The Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education highlights that Royal Charter Institutions and Higher Education Corporations are likely to not be able to offer teach out in the event of insolvency.

In reality, a fully funded HE sector, with appropriate institutional autonomy and academic-led governance structures in line with the UNESCO recommendation concerning the status of higher education teaching personnel. Having academic-led governance structures would protect against the whims of individual vice chancellors and governing bodies rubber stamping vanity projects, whilst ensuring appropriate institutional autonomy to challenge existing perceived wisdoms and carry out the societal role they hold.

Whilst I would hope that government policy should be such that HEIs are largely unlikely to become insolvent, in the event that an HEI does become insolvent, the focus should be on ensuring that the students are able to complete their course of study, taught by appropriate experts within their field. As a result, an insolvency regime that enables teach-out, by appropriately qualified staff, should be in place as a minimum.

Consideration must also be given to funded research and how this is protected. Universities play and have played a huge part in our country’s long and proud history of research. Consideration in the event of any insolvency must be given to allow for funded research to continue to conclusion, as terminating research programmes part-way through is both costly, and short sighted.

Ramifications of Institutional Insolvency & Regional Impact

HEIs have a significant impact on the local economy – they are often extremely large employers and, beyond that, provide value in the form of knowledge exchange, consultancy, and knowledge transfer partnerships (to name a few). Given how London-centric the UK economy can be, HEIs are often the largest employer in certain regions or areas, for example, the universities in Nottingham bring significant value to the local economy, increasing spending and investment in local businesses and uplifting the surrounding area. They act as hubs for business and investment, and support in the delivery of public services. My institution (and my role within my institution), for example, provides pre- and post-registration education for healthcare professionals, including paramedics, nurses, and occupational therapists. It has a large part to play in the strategic development of the NHS in the East Midlands. Smaller campuses, for example, NTU’s Mansfield Campus, provide significant value to the local communities, with many students undertaking university study close to home. In addition, students attend our institution from across the UK, but stay within the east midlands when qualifying, growing the local and regional economy.

It is important to ensure that courses can be delivered across the UK, without focusing provision of courses in certain geographic areas. It’s also important that a range of institutions deliver the courses as, for example, the post-92 sector plays an important role in providing access to degree education to groups who traditionally wouldn’t attend university. The role of arts and humanities in our society and economy shouldn’t be underplayed, with our cultural exports being globally recognised and providing significant improvements to people’s mental and physical wellbeing. Providing access to these courses regionally is of vital importance. Strategies that can be employed include a fully funded sector that includes a funding formula that supports teaching-intensive universities to not be dependent on unpredictable income sources, alongside ensuring that research funding truly reflects the costs of doing research – the current funding system of asking universities to meticulously estimate the cost of doing research through the Transparent Approach to Costings system, and then giving universities 80% of that cost through grants hamstrings the research sector and further harms the ability for HEIs to deliver high quality teaching and research.

Conclusion

In summary, HEIs play a vital part in the local economy, acting as vital employers and partners with both public- and private- sector organisations. Institutions should be autonomous, but with democratic, academic-led decision leadership in line with UNESCO recommendation concerning the status of higher education teaching personnel. Funding models should be realistic, and reduce the reliance on unpredictable income sources that are significantly impacted by changing government policies, and protections for staff and students should be included within any form of insolvency process.

Thank you for taking the time to review my submission,

Chris Pritchard

Senior Lecturer in Paramedic Practice & Emergency Care, Nottingham Trent University

NTU UCU Branch Secretary, UCU East Midlands Regional Secretary & Regional Higher Education Chair, UCU National Executive Committee Member (Midlands Higher Education)

September 2025