BUFDG Digest 20 May

BUFDG  

We hosted some fascinating sessions at our Shared Services Showcase last week - and BUFDG members can now find all the session recordings to catch up on here. Ranging from payroll to internal audit, from insurance to procurement, from IT support to energy, and much more besides, the sessions highlighted just how much already exists across the sector to support collaboration, efficiency, and making life a bit easier. There is clearly more value here than current levels of engagement might suggest, and for many institutions these are relatively accessible opportunities to release capacity or reduce duplication without needing to start from scratch. At a time when expectations around transformation and efficiency continue to grow, there is real value in understanding what is already available, as well as where we might not need to reinvent the wheel.

For example – we heard from HEFESTIS, a shared service which provides a tailored Information Security Service, shared CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) support, Data Protection and Governance share service (including a Data Protection Officer and Information Rights Officer), and UniDesk - provision of IT Service Management. I thought Brian's session was fascinating. He outlined the three primary areas of support that the service covers, and there are obviously efficiency / effectiveness improvements, but I was struck most by the potential for significant risk reduction, especially in a world of ever-increasing digital risk. Access the HEFESTIS recording here.

We’re very excited to announce that our first ever English Higher Education Finance Conference, which is FREE for BUFDG members in any finance-related role in an English HEI, is now open for bookings! It’s a new one-day in-person conference for English universities/HE providers, being held on 1 July at the University of Birmingham (Edgbaston Conference Centre). Look out for the full programme in the next few weeks, but book early to secure your place. With a broad range of sessions and opportunities to meet and network with peers from across the sector, as well as sector suppliers and supporters, be there or be … well, somewhere less exciting.

We’re working with fellow PHES organisation, HESPA (H E Strategic Planners Association) to understand the main gaps are in the current LLE guidance for universities/HEPs so we can work with the SLC, OfS and DfE to fill those gaps - what is it that you need to know in order to successfully implement the LLE that you currently can’t find in guidance? Have a look at this discussion board post for more information and to respond.

SECTOR

HESA has published the full provider-level Finance dataset for 24/25. It covers 299 of the 312 providers (13 did not publish in time), and of those with two consecutive years of data, income rose to £53.9bn from £52.5bn, with expenditure rising from £43.4bn to £53.1bn. Despite this, 60% of providers reported surpluses compared to 58% last year. In unrelated news, a new report from the KCL policy institute lays out how the financial challenges across HE aren’t just a story for the UK, with universities across Europe facing similar ‘funding and political headwinds’.

Following the final scheduled meeting of employers (through UCEA) and unions as part of the New JNCHES pay round for 26/27, UCEA has written to unions with their Full and Final offer. This amounts to “an uplift on each point on the New JNCHES pay spine of 2% from 1 August 2026”, with the offer “made subject to the condition that HEIs will have the option to defer the pay award for 2026-27 by up to 11 months, without back pay, from 1 August 2026, until 1 July 2027, at the latest”. David Kernohan has this summary on Wonkhe.

The British Council has just published a review of TNE in East Asia, using HESA data alongside its own insights. The review finds that “TNE is thriving”, and reaching over 212,000 students in 24/25. However, it finds that TNE enrolments are heavily focused on just five countries, with China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Vietnam making up 95% of all students. In addition, there is still a heavy focus on in-person education, with distance learning enrolments still lower than a decade ago.

Our fellow Professional HE Services organisation CUBO has published its 2026 annual benchmarking report, drawing on data from around one‑third of universities across the UK and Ireland. Though changes in survey participation limit direct comparability with last year’s results, the report shows overall commercial income rose by 4% year on year, despite declines in conference and catering income, while sports services recorded growth. Non-members of CUBO can access the Executive Summary and headline findings. 

We just missed it in the last Digest, but Jisc has launched a new digital maturity assessment framework for universities. The framework survey is open for the next six weeks, and participating institutions “will gain access to anonymised sector benchmark data in September, alongside a briefing paper offering insights into digital maturity and transformation across UK higher

KCL and Cranfield University have announced that they have signed an agreement to progress towards a merger of the two institutions. If all goes to plan the two institutions will be brought together for the start of the 27/28 academic year. The BBC and Wonkhe both cover the news, with a further Wonkhe blog by James Coe making the case that it’s unlikely pairing, in more ways than one, and that might just be why it works.

ENGLAND

The big news this week is the publication of the Education Select Committee report on Higher Education funding – big in terms of coverage, but also because it makes full use of the evidence supplied by BUFDG, particularly on the issue of VAT for shared services. The report itself leads with the concern that there is “no clearly understood protocol for how the Government might respond to a situation of a provider at risk of imminent insolvency”, although it covers areas including franchising, governance, and sector borrowing as well. There is commentary from both the BBC and Wonkhe, among others. UCEA’s response focuses on what it deems to be lukewarm recommendations in regards to TPS (although the SCAPE changes – see PENSIONS section below) may have since tempered that).

There is plenty of related news out there. This week sees the publication of OfS’ own annual financial sustainability report for 24/25. It notes a lower-than-expected 36% of institutions reporting deficits, with smaller and specialist institutions typically doing better, against an “aggregate deterioration in performance for larger research- and teaching-intensive institutions”. The usual “the performance of individual universities and colleges varied widely” caveat still applies. It also notes that ‘optimistic’ institutional forecasts for 26-27 onwards are “again heavily dependent on the higher education sector’s expectations of a significant increase in student recruitment” – an optimism that the regulator does not appear to share. Wonkhe’s David Kernohan shares his thoughts.

Meanwhile, off the back of the OfS data, the National Audit Office has announced it is to run its own assessment over the next six months of the financial sustainability of the sector, including “how effectively regulation is mitigating the likelihood and impact of unplanned market exit”.

Universities UK appears to have got wind that the government is considering cutting the Strategic Priorities Grant in some form – the last ‘lever’ of direct funding for undergraduate education. It has commissioned research from London Economics that shows that the government contribution to HE since £9k fees were introduced in 2012 has actually more than halved to just 23% of the total. A letter to the OfS/sector is expected by the end of the month, and David Kernohan explains what might be at stake.

Amongst all the restructuring across the sector, there’s concern over significant regional gaps in provision of certain subjects across the country. The latest OfS ‘size and shape’ data and dashboard is out, with the data for Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts (SHAPE) mapped courtesy of the British Academy. The Academy’s Ruairí Cullen explains the trends in an article here.

Finally, LLE. There have been a number of announcements since the end of the election period, with the DfE publishing a list of subjects in scope and approved providers, as well as approved qualifications. The implementation of LLE is being enabled by the introduction of secondary legislation announced at the same time. DK (who clearly doesn’t sleep) has his analysis on a lengthy article here, and laments the lack of a specific H E bill in last week’s King’s speech.

WALES

Medr has announced its overall ‘investment’ in Tertiary education for the 26/27 academic year. It’s largely a holding pattern from the prior year, with a 6% increase in core teaching allocations, but freezes to QR and sub-inflationary increases elsewhere mean that it’s ‘as you were’ for the majority of institutions, with income for some slightly above, and others below, the inflation line. There’s a per-institution breakdown of the targeted employability support available in a separate announcement.

In other Medr news, there’s a consultation out on the funding model for apprenticeships, with a deadline of the 19 June.

With Plaid Cymru winning the Welsh national election (albeit without securing a majority), new Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has appointed his cabinet. Anna Brychan is the new Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, with Cefin Campbell the new Deputy Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education – both have experience working in HE.

SCOTLAND

Scotland is running on a slightly later election timescale than Wales. John Swinney was re-appointed as first minister yesterday, with cabinet announcements expected around the time this Digest lands in your inbox.

We’re very much looking forward to this year’s Scottish Universities’ Finance Conference, taking place at the University of Glasgow on 28 May. Unfortunately tickets are now sold out, but for all those attending, we’ve published details of all the sessions on the website event page.

TAX AND PAYROLL

We’re still taking bookings for the online Tax Conference (9 - 11 June), there’s a jam-packed schedule with a wide range of sessions to choose from - from VAT-focused deep dives and employment status discussion to TNE strategies and an interactive Q&A with trusted advisors.

It’s been three years since our last major Tax, Payroll and Global Mobility Survey, and a lot has changed in that time. We’re planning to launch our next survey next month but before we finalise it, we’d really value your input. What questions would you most like to see benchmarked across the sector in the area of tax (including employment taxes, VAT, Customs, CT, etc), payroll and global mobility? Are there particular challenges, trends or practices you’re keen to compare? Please share your suggestions with us to help shape this year’s survey and ensure it delivers meaningful, relevant insights for our community.

A recent session we recorded, Employment Status - common roles in HE - External Examiners - outlines how to determine the correct tax, NIC and employment rights treatment for external examiners, highlighting the distinction between first degree (PAYE) and higher degree (typically self‑employed) roles. It covers key considerations including the 12‑month NIC rule, recent expense changes, and the importance of contracts and worker status in ensuring compliance and managing risk.

Inspired by this HEPI guest blog from Dr Charlotte Fawcett 'Caught in between: The ambiguous status of PhD researchers', on the website Julia has been taking a deeper dive into the practical difficulties for tax and payroll professionals responsible for ensuring compliance, consistency and clarity in relation to status and stipends.

HMRC has updated and introduced various publications following the new tax year, which are highlighted here. If you’re hungry for more things Tax, there’s also the latest (14 May) TaxHE newsletter. It includes, among other things, a full list of the dozens of tax-related events available over the rest of 2026.

PENSIONS

The Minister for Pensions, Torsten Bell, issued a statement yesterday that the SCAPE discount rate, used as part of the calculation in determining contribution levels in public sector pensions (including TPS) is being set at CPI + 2%, with new contribution rates to be implemented from April 2027. This all but bakes in a reduction in employer contributions, with enough confidence for UCEA to add the words “potentially significantly” in to their responding press release. Some welcome news for the sector.

FINANCIAL REPORTING

If you missed yesterday’s webinar with KPMG and PwC exploring the impact of the new FEHE SORP you can find the recording here on the SORP Knowledge Hub, along with a wealth of other resources to help with SORP preparations. This kicked off our trio of financial statements workshops, which we hold every year to support those working in the sector involved in the preparation of financial statements.

The second workshop, on 22 May (10-11.30am) will explore lessons learned from the BUFDG Financial Information, Analysis and Trends (FIAT) exercise, delving into the findings and observations from Financial Statements reviewed across the whole sector from those who gathered the data. Finally, on 5 June (10-11.30am) the FRG's audit firm members will be conducting their usual annual Financial Statements technical review webinar.

Notes from yesterday's SORP Implementation Forum will be shared next week. In the meantime, previous notes (and recording, where relevant) can be found here, and booking is open for the next meeting on 7 July.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Don’t forget to book your place at the next Research Finance Forum on 11 June, where we will hear more about the potential impact of changes to revenue recognition as a result of the new FEHE SORP 2026, and have plenty of time for free discussion after very full agendas at the last two. If you have not previously attended, you can find out more about the Forum and its co-chairs here. Please specify when registering if you have specific topics you would like to raise or hear more about at the meeting (or contact Joni).  

The recording and notes from the May Innovate UK drop-in are available for catch up until mid-June, and bookings are open for sessions in June and July.

Research England has published the evaluation of a shared Technology Transfer Offices pilot, which sought to test whether shared TTOs can support universities with smaller research portfolios and resulted in six spin-outs and encouraging results.

An organisation funded by the UKRI, called the Innovation and Research Caucus (IRC), has run a project to evidence the social, economic, and scientific benefits of undertaking research and innovation in the UK. Rather than just trying to determine a single ROI figure, the project funded four separate pieces of research into different methodologies that might be used, and the trade-offs between them. The four papers can all be downloaded from the IRC website.

MISCELLANEOUS

If you, or anyone in your team, are looking to understand of universities more widely – not just funding but teaching, research, students, data, governance, culture, international, and strategy – then Wonkhe might have the solution. They’re running a 10-module course over 7 months from October to April, called ‘Making Sense of Higher Education’. There are group discounts for 5 or more bookings, as well as a 10% saving if you book before the end of July.

And if that seems like a nice idea if only you had the money for it… Santander is offering 100 grants of £500 to support the professional development of UK university staff (across all roles) with flexible funding that can be used for memberships, conferences, training, accreditation, or related travel. Applications are open until 2 July 2026 via Santander Open Academy. This is a fantastic, timely initiative. And once you’ve secured your grant (a response is promised by 15 July) there will still be time to sign up for the Wonkhe early-bird!

Finally, the annual EAUC Green Gown Awards are open for submissions, with the initial application process ending on 12 June. There are 15 categories to aim at.

JOB(S) OF THE FORTNIGHT

We have two jobs to highlight this week. Firstly, the University of Manchester are looking for a Director of Faculty Finance, where the successful candidate will “play a key role in driving financial performance, strategic planning and long-term sustainability across a complex and high-profile faculty”. The deadline is 31 May.

Secondly, Swansea University are in need of a Finance Systems Analyst, to “support the administration, maintenance and continuous improvement of the University’s Unit4 ERP system and associated finance systems, ensuring services are efficient, reliable and meet the needs of the wider University community.” You’ll need to get your application in for that one by 26 May.

And here’s the link to the rest of the vacancies on the BUFDG Jobs page.