26 August 2026 
Amanda Darley, Head of Operations and Engagement
This week’s Shared Services Spotlight is on Jisc, one of the sector's largest shared service providers, delivering digital infrastructure, technology procurement and licensing services across UK higher education. In this session, Jisc highlighted how collaborative procurement, sector-wide negotiations and shared digital services can help institutions secure better value, reduce duplication and manage risk more effectively. It reinforced the benefits of sector-wide collaboration and the important role finance leaders can play in supporting approaches that drive institutional and sector-level efficiencies. You can find recordings of all our Shared Services Showcase sessions here.
Wonkhe has analysed the information from A-level and other level 3 results day for you – there is clearing analysis on the site, and a more detailed look at what happened on results day, (with 3% more UK 18 year olds accepted to an HE course on results day than last year, and a record number of people heading to higher education this autumn). The BBC reports on top universities “hoovering up” students
And looking at the international applicant picture, Wonkhe reports that sponsored study visa main applications for the year ending July 2026 are down 11% in the monthly entry clearance visa application data published by the Home Office, with the impact of the emergency visa brake announced in March (relating to Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan) now showing up in the data. The Pie reports that a group of Sudanese students are preparing to appeal a High Court ruling in favour of the Home Secretary regarding the visa brake. The Guardian reports on this in a piece describing a ‘collapse in international students’, with King’s College London’s VC, Professor Shitij Kapur saying that “simple rubric is that every five international students impact one university job. And these falling numbers will invariably impact the financial health and staff complement of universities” and UUK’s Vivienne Stern calling on government to “quietly drop the idea of taxing international student fees”.
Meanwhile the FT(£) reports on a “pricing war” for international students with UK universities offering tuition fee discounts. Julian Westwood of S Squared is quoted as saying that “‘along with a decline in the number of international students, the fee for each is also reduced – …that may be beyond the stress-testing of some [universities’] financial plans’”. While The Pie wonders if Spain might be the next international education destination.
Wonkhe is hosting ‘The collaboration question’ event on 3 November for “the people who make collaboration happen” – “collaboration curious” senior and mid-level leaders driving strategic collaboration in institutions, and academic and professional services community leaders. It promises to be a “space and time to talk honestly and openly about how to execute collaborations that deliver value and that stick”. You can find out more and book a place here. In the meantime, this Wonkhe article assesses where the collaboration conversation has got to and where it needs to go from here. And if you have an “active large-scale collaboration” in process and are interested in contributing to a Wonkhe research project exploring “the infrastructure and cultures that enable collaboration in higher education” then get in touch with Wonkhe.
A Director at MCW Architects poses some interesting questions about how to determine if your estate is really serving your institutional purposes in this Wonkhe blog, using London Met’s recent estate transformation programme as an example. This project was “not driven by a desire to reduce floor area, or by financial pressure alone, but by a strategic judgement that the university’s long-term ambitions would be better served by concentrating investment in buildings capable of delivering greater academic value, operational flexibility, and long-term resilience”.
The Plan 2 student loans debate continues – this time the FT(£) has an article on how Russell Group graduates owe more than their counterparts at post-92s.
The University of Buckingham which already offers two-year degrees, has reduced the fees for a number of its courses. The Dean of the Faculty of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences explains why on Wonkhe.
This HEPI blog looks at how the regional contribution of universities could be measured (without any new data collection) to allow funding to follow the measurement. With the new PM promising “good growth in every postcode” the blog argues that this requires “a measure for every postcode” with universities valued “for the research they win and for the local workforce they build and retain”.
Wonkhe has spent some time looking at data from FOI requests on the weekend courses that never qualified for student loan funding , piecing together the picture and concluding that domestic agents should be banned and student loan book funding for non-specialist, for-profit provision should be shut down as it is not worth the risk.
Ben Macpherson, Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education, has resigned for health reasons. Changes to the ministerial team will be announced “in due course”.
The Scottish Fiscal Commission has issued its Fiscal Update and commentary on the Scottish Government’s latest fiscal position following the Scottish Parliamentary elections in May and the appointment of a new UK Prime Minister, and also considers how the economic context has changed since the last forecast in January. The Institute for Fiscal Studies responds here. The Scottish Government has an extra £860 million to spend in this financial year – but the outlook for future years is described by the IFS as “stormier” – with overall funding set to fall in 2027/28, if the Finance Secretary wants to “protect the NHS from cuts, she will need to make even bigger cuts to spending on other services”.
The Times(£) reports on Scottish university funding based on comments from HEPI’s Nick Hillman, describing places for Scottish students at Scottish universities as “wickedly underfunded”.
The SFC has appointed a new Deputy Chief Executive. Paul Devoy is the former Chief Executive of Investors in People and a former non-executive board member of Forth Valley College. He started in post on 24 August and has also taken on the role of interim Chief Executive following the departure of SFC’s current CEO. And Universities Scotland also has new appointments to its Executive Group and Committee Conveners.
Salix is hosting a ‘Delivering Scotland’s Energy Future’ event at the University of Edinburgh on 27 October.
Andrea has posted the latest information on the visitor levy in Wales on this discussion board post. It will apply in Cardiff from 1 April 2027, but you must start accounting for it from 28 September 2026 for advance bookings etc. Other councils in Wales are still consulting on the levy.
It seems like a long way off, but save the date (and some budget) for the 2027 BUFDG Tax Conf which will take place on 9-10 June 2027 at the University of Birmingham’s Edgbaston Conference Centre. Bookings will open early next year, but put it in your calendar now!
The in-person Payroll and Employment tax Group meetings are coming up in September/October, and are now open for bookings. You can find details of all the meetings in this discussion post, so you can book the one most convenient for you. The meetings are free to attend and are a fantastic way to meet others working in payroll and employment taxes and grow and extend your network, as well as keeping up with the latest issues.
The next issue of TaxHE will be published on 10 September, after an August hiatus.
Jisc and UKUPC have launched a new joint IT procurement brochure, bringing together software, content and digital procurement routes available to UK education and research organisations in a single resource. The aim is to make the procurement landscape easier to navigate, helping institutions identify compliant, cost-effective options more quickly while reducing duplication and administrative effort. Developed through cross-sector collaboration, the brochure is a strong example of how knowledge sharing and collective expertise can support better decision-making, deliver efficiencies and improve value for money across the sector.
UKUPC is conducting a survey on responsible procurement systems and tools which is open until the end of August.
Our next SORP implementation Forum will take place online on 15 September – book your place here.
Paul Johnson (previous director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies) writes in The Times(£) about innovation and his concern that abolishing DSIT may be a decision “taken in haste and repented at leisure”, especially as the UK’s spend (public and private) on R&D is “about the OECD average … but … way behind international leaders”. He quotes the Institute for Government as describing the creation of DSIT in 2023, unusually, as “thought through and had clear logic”, but has now described its abolition as a ‘“mistake” creating a loss of focus… with a risk that “confusion will reign and . . . will lead to real harm to an area where the UK had been making progress”’.
Innovate UK has issued updated guidance for holders of Horizon Europe Guarantee grants. Alongside new guidance on Project Impact reporting, which explains how grant holders should access, complete and submit Project Impact returns, the General Guidance has also been revised. Key changes cover the treatment of affiliated entities, the exchange rate period to be used for new applications, and the use of funds for Strategic Enhancement Activities. Innovate UK has also reminded grant holders to check the Independent Accountant’s Report requirements applicable to their project. Any questions or issues relating to Project Impact reporting should be directed to the Impact Team.
UKRI has recently published a statement on accurately costing projects to improve research financial sustainability. The intention is to clarify that UKRI wants applications for funding to reflect the true costs of research proposals and not seek to under-cost due to a perception that this will make them more competitive through expert review. UKRI's Director of Funding, Robyn Thomas, has also posted a blog on LinkedIn, which provides a bit more detail.
This could be an interesting discussion at the next Research Finance Forum on 14 October? Register now and let us know your preferred topics!
THE reports on the appointment of Chris McDonald as the new Science Minister, describing him as likely to “be more sceptical, but probably a better and more effective spokesperson for science because of that”.
The OfS has published the Annual TRAC data for 2024/25– the report contains analysis of sector aggregate data based on submissions from HEIs in England and Northern Ireland, as well as summaries of UK sector data. Wonkhe promises you “everything you ever wanted to know about TRAC”, describing it as “the sector's most underused, and most misunderstood, data collection”…. But if there is more you’d like to know or discuss, you can always book onto our TRAC Practitioners Conference (22-23 September, online).
If you’d like to hear from other public sector organisations about their decarbonisation projects in Scotland, then you can sign up here for Salix’s ‘Delivering Scotland’s Energy Future’ event at the University of Edinburgh on 27 October.
In order to comply with the disclosure requirements of FRS 102 Section 28, USS release an annual letter to universities on the funding position of the USS scheme, and the 2026 letter is now available.
We’re running a free webinar Law Debenture (one of the UK's leading independent professional trustee providers) and the Education Pensions Club on 17 September, looking at the interesting question of whether your institution’s self-administered DB pension scheme could actually be giving money back to the university (whilst still ensuring all members benefits as paid as promised). Find out more and book your free place here!
The latest BUFDG Pensions Update is hot off the press today and covers some key upcoming dates, the latest on the USS valuation, the latest LGPS Bulletin, the TPS consultation, new guidance on NHSPS exit payments, SAUL’s financial position, HMRC updates, plus more.
An article in Pensions Expert discusses DB pension surpluses which it describes as governance tests, not windfalls.
Independent H E has issued a report on how independent HE providers partner with industry. The report makes eight recommendations, aimed largely at “ government departments with responsibility for skills policy, and those leading the development and delivery of industrial strategy sector plans”.
Our job of the fortnight is Head of Estates Finance at the University of Cambridge. Reporting to the Director of Estates, with a strong functional relationship to the Finance Director, the Head of Estates Finance will provide strategic financial leadership across the University's estate portfolios, and lead the delivery and transformation of the Division's finance function, ensuring the provision of high-quality financial business partnering, governance, planning, reporting and investment appraisal services. The Head of Estates Finance will also play a pivotal role in supporting strategic decision making, major capital investments and long-term estate planning.
Other vacancies can be found as usual on the BUFDG jobs page.
