Student recruitment growth plans outlined

Plans are being put in place to welcome more students to our University community, in order to strengthen our ability to support academic excellence and our long-term financial sustainability.

While we’ve seen some growth in recent years, it has been well below the sector average.

Increasing our student numbers, including both domestically and internationally, will help us to address the current financial challenges arising from high inflation and stagnating student numbers during the Covid pandemic. It will also enable us to invest in supporting research excellence, excellence in education and a strong student experience.

The growth plans are part of our wider response to financial challenges, which got under way last summer, and includes actions to make savings through more efficient structures and working processes.

• Watch all-staff talk on student recruitment growth plans

How will we increase student recruitment?

Increased student recruitment targets for 2024/25 have been set following detailed discussions with Schools and Departments, and on the basis of detailed market analysis.

Reflecting student demand, growth will be focussed on several areas, including Business, Psychology, Law, Economics and Computer Science.

Support from Professional Services for achieving this growth, as well as additional staffing to maintain both a strong student experience and capacity for research, will be focussed in these areas.

An increased student population will need to be accommodated on our campuses, and so strategic investment in our estate is creating additional space for teaching and study. Improved timetabling and efficient use of existing space will also be considered.

How does this help our whole community thrive?

In all universities, income in some areas supports activities in others. These cross-flows across activities (e.g. from teaching to research) or across disciplines (reflecting different cost of teaching some subjects) are normal and part of our planning, and critical to supporting academic excellence and the reputation of the University.

So focussing growth and support for this growth on some areas thus supports academic excellence across the University.