A new survey has revealed the full extent of cost-cutting measures UK universities are being forced to take to deal with growing financial pressures, with many choosing to close not just individual courses but entire departments over the last year.

The new data from Universities UK (UUK) shows that half (49%) of universities have closed courses, a figure that has more than doubled in the last year, while 46% have removed module options, and 18% have closed departments, a stark rise from the 9% reporting the same last year.

However, the current financial reality facing most universities means that, looking ahead, 88% said they may need to consider further course closures or consolidation of courses over the next three years.

The impact is stretching to research, too, as almost one in five universities (19%) reported reducing spending on academic R&D, up from 14% last year, with 79% saying they would consider more cutbacks to this area in the next three years. 

UUK’s poll, which surveyed 60 institutions from across all regions of the UK, found that while universities have little choice in making cuts to R&D and courses, the majority are doing their best to protect the student experience, especially for the most vulnerable.

The figures revealed that the number of institutions cutting back on student bursaries over the past three years is one of the only areas to have decreased since last year (15%, down from 23%), with student hardship funding and bursaries being areas universities were least likely to consider cutting.

Despite that, as funding continues to decline, UK universities may be forced to make difficult decisions. Just under half (49%) said they may be forced to cut hardship funding over the next three years, while 59% said they may need to cut bursaries.

As a result, many have turned to cost-cutting in other areas to blunt the financial impact on students, with 60% choosing instead to scale back repairs and maintenance of existing facilities, and 89% of universities planning further operational savings over the next three years.

Over half (51%) of respondents have cut catering costs, rising from 30% last year, while 46% have looked to make savings in their IT budgets, up from just 26% in 2024.

Perhaps most worrying, the survey found a quarter of universities have had to make compulsory redundancies, up from 11% this time last year, while 18% have cut back on funding for early career researchers.

“Falling per-student funding, visa changes which have decreased international enrolments, and a longstanding failure of research grants to cover costs are creating huge pressures in all four nations of the UK,” said Vivienne Stern MBE, chief executive of Universities UK.

“University leaders are gripping the problem. But we need governments in all four nations of the UK to do their bit. That means increasing per student funding, stabilising international student visa policy, and working with us to sort out the research funding system. 

“There is also a long list of things which the government does which imposes cost or barriers to collaboration, which we want to work through, item by item, to get the barnacles off the boat.”

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While UUK’s polling highlights the financial tightrope that most British universities are currently walking, it comes at a particularly significant time for Scottish institutions.

Most significantly, Dundee University are right now getting to grips with a financial recovery plan to meet a £35 million deficit, but both the University of Edinburgh and the Aberdeen Uni have also recently announced a wave cost-cutting measures to close budget gaps.

Meanwhile, staff at Robert Gordon University, also in Aberdeen, are now on their third day of strike action in opposition to proposed compulsory redundancies, which follows the university recording the biggest drop in high-paying international students across Scottish universities.