Student recruitment update and our financial position

Vice-Chancellor Robert Van de Noort provides an update on our student recruitment numbers for 2024/25 and how this affects our financial targets.

As we fast approach the start of the new academic year, I want to provide you with an update on our student recruitment picture. As you know, we had set increased recruitment targets in some areas this year as one part of our growth objectives to improve our financial sustainability.

Our recruitment campaign and Clearing were well-executed and effective and, while we don’t yet have exact numbers, Clearing is likely to bring in around 950 entrants for 2024/25 – matching last year’s total.

I want to reiterate my thanks to all colleagues involved in those activities for their professionalism and hard work. Unfortunately, despite this fantastic effort, we are likely to be well short of our undergraduate recruitment target, particularly in some subjects.

Impact of tough international PGT market for UG Home recruitment

Like many other universities, we have felt the impact of Russell Group universities lowering their entry grade requirements this summer. In response to the fear of a significant shortfall in applications from international students, particularly at Postgraduate Taught level, their drive has been to recruit significantly more UK undergraduate students.

While our postgraduate numbers remain uncertain, we do know that this behaviour has resulted in fewer students accepting their offers to study at Reading, despite us seeing a high number of applications and making more offers than last year.

Where in recent years around 50% of our insurance offer-holders were released to us by their firm place university, this year that has dropped to 20%, reducing the number we were able to accept by the equivalent of around 350 students. We have also seen more placed students decline their place with us.

We had predicted a tough international market this year, given both global economic factors and ongoing negative rhetoric around the UK as a study destination. But the riots in the summer, in an already unstable and negative international market, prompted a scale of response from higher-ranked universities not anticipated by the wider sector.

The implications for our financial position

Although we will not know exact numbers until all students are enrolled, we do know that the financial impact of this outcome on both undergraduate and postgraduate recruitment is significant.

In advance of exact figures, we estimate that the reduction in tuition fee income this year will be somewhere between £14m and £21m. For undergraduates, of course, this financial hit will be multiplied by the number of years in the degree, and comes on top of inflationary pressures and tuition fees remaining static for more than a decade.

Such a financial shortfall impacts on the budget we agreed with Council for 2024/25 and our longer-term targets to reduce the University’s operating deficit, already forecast to be £21m this coming year. We will need to take action to address this.

Members of the University Executive Board are currently discussing additional potential actions we can take to reduce costs to balance out the loss in income. These might include deferring this year’s annual pay award to colleagues or bringing forward some savings measures that we hoped to deliver over a longer period, such as restructuring in Professional Services and Schools.

Next steps

We are in conversation with the University and Colleges Union (UCU) and Staff Forum about the situation and all options under consideration. The plan is to discuss proposals at September’s Council meeting, and we will keep you informed as things progress over the coming months.

I will provide more detail on our recruitment picture and overall financial position at the next all-staff talk on Monday 23 September at 13:00. Invites will go out shortly. I appreciate this is at the start of Welcome Week, but the recording will, as ever, be made available shortly afterwards on the Staff Portal for anyone who is unable to attend.

We won’t have all the answers by this date but, as ever, I would prefer to share information openly and in a timely way and give the opportunity for discussion and questions.

I am sorry not to be able to give you a more positive update to start the new academic year. As we have said previously, adapting and reacting to changing global pressures and demands is part of our long-term strategic approach, but this development does put increased pressure on us to act more quickly.

Thank you once more to all of you for your continued work and perseverance while we navigate the challenges ahead.