07 July 2020 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
The IFS released a report this week on the financial sustainability of the HE sector, which used interesting assumptions to claim that up to as many as 13 institutions could fail due to falls in income from the pandemic. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in prominent articles in the BBC and the Guardian, among other outlets.
HEPI responded to the report by pointing out flaws in many of the assumptions used, including a shortfall in undergraduates that may well not materialise. Wonkhe has also run the numbers, and explored the kind of bailouts the government could introduce to support those struggling providers. While the OfS has made no mention of additional support for universities, the government has elsewhere made clear it is working on “a process through which Higher Education providers at risk of closure will be able to apply to government to access a restructuring regime as a last resort”.
