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British students face “fierce competition” in scientific and engineering degree course locations, as they prevent the university from expanding its expensive courses despite increased demand.
According to data shared with the Financial Times, the UK application for so-called high-cost degree was up 14% in the year available in the data first year, surpassing a 5% increase in number of enrollments over the same period.
“The university is not expanding its high-cost courses when it simply meets student demand or labor market needs,” said Vivienne Stern, chief executive of universities representing the sector.
High-cost subjects were “highly competitive” and were relevant to courses and institutions, but “the more essentially the supply is limited, the more difficult it is to get in,” she added.
The warning has increased the burden on institutions that have come after the minister cut and funded higher education capital this month, forcing them to cut courses amid concerns that large providers would soon collapse.
Stern also says that the government risks eroding its own growth agenda without investing in science and technology courses, providing a pipeline of skills needed to provide an industrial strategy.
Joanna Burton, policy director for Russell Group at Elite University, said the UK needs more skilled graduates from the high-growth sector to implement its improved industrial programme.
“We know this comes with higher costs as these courses require specialized facilities, equipment and faculty,” she added. “The decision to effectively cut funding for high-cost courses will undermine the very ambitions set by the government.”
Tuition and government grants cover only half of the cost of offering many expensive courses, often based on science and arts, including medicine, physics, engineering, performing arts.
According to UUK, the university receives additional state funding to provide high-cost courses not covered by tuition fees through strategic prioritization grants and is responsible for tuition compensation, but the true value of this support is almost at the fifth lowest.
The value of domestic tuition fees fell sharply after the eight-year freeze ended last year, when the government announced three years of inflation coalition payments.
While universities are increasingly relying on international student fees to offset domestic funding shortages, changes in visa policy have curtailed recruitment, and the number of book-incompatible providers has increased rapidly.
Stern said the university will “cut costs very quickly” to deal with the growing financial pressure that the government had been “deteriorating” by taking more money from the system.
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Graduates in high-cost subjects are nine times more likely to work in the life sciences sector three years after graduation, and seven times more likely to work in advanced manufacturing than their colleagues, the UUK analysis shows.
The Ministry of Education said it protected grant funding for key high-cost courses that are “essential to economic growth.” It said it was taking the “strict but fair decisions” needed to put the university on a stronger financial footing.
