Many English universities would face ¡°catastrophic¡± financial difficulties that may force some to close if annual undergraduate tuition fees were reduced to ?7,500, a vice-chancellor has warned.

As part of its manifesto published on 24 November, the Conservatives pledged to ¡°consider carefully¡±?the ¡°thoughtful¡± recommendations of the Augar review, which called on the government to cut annual tuition fees in England to ?7,500.

Speaking at Times Higher Education¡¯²õ THE Live, Nick Petford, vice-chancellor of the University of Northampton, said reducing fees to this level would put many higher education institutions at risk.

¡°It would be catastrophic for any government to introduce such a scheme,¡± said Professor Petford, on a panel of university leaders.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

¡°The thought of making cuts because there is some asinine suggestion that universities can ¡®deal with it¡¯ is ridiculous,¡± added Professor Petford, who argued that ¡°tuition fees are ?9,250 for a reason because that is what it costs¡± to educate students and provide other associated services for them.

The ongoing freeze on tuition fees in England, which have not risen since 2016, was already posing a challenge to UK universities given wage and other inflationary pressures, he added.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

¡°If you applied the same [freeze in income] to the NHS, people would be out on the streets,¡± said Professor Petford, who added that ¡°our gas bill has not stayed constant, nor has our electricity bill or the cost of providing pensions¡±.

Asked if a UK university might go bust within five years, Staffordshire University¡¯²õ vice-chancellor Liz Barnes said ¡°a large number of universities would be in financial difficulty¡±, particularly if a ?7,500 fee limit was introduced.

¡°They would tend to be those institutions in rural areas, or higher education cold spots, but I think the political pressure [of a local institution closing] would mean someone would step in,¡± Professor Barnes added.

However, universities would be forced to find significant savings if fees were reduced, she added, with many likely to prove unpopular with the local community. ¡°We have our own police officer that we employ, so this is the sort of service that would go,¡± said Professor Barnes.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

David Price, vice-provost (research) at UCL, who was also on the panel, agreed with Professor Barnes that political intervention might save some under-pressure institutions. ¡°Will some universities become financially unviable [within five years]? Quite likely. But will they close? Maybe not,¡± he said.

Speaking in conversation with former universities minister Lord Willetts in a separate session, Bill Rammell, vice-chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, said he also believed government would intervene to help stricken institutions. ¡°Alternative providers will sink or swim [depending on their fortunes] and that will continue but I don¡¯t think a mainstream university outside London would be left to fail,¡± Mr Rammell said.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com