Russell Group response to OfS consultation on 2021/22 recurrent funding

07 May 2021

The Russell Group has responded to the OfS consultation on recurrent funding for 2021-22.

A Russell Group spokesperson said:
“Plans to increase government funding for skilled specialist subjects like medicine, science, technology and engineering, which have been underfunded for many years, are a positive step. However, it is disappointing those gains are at the cost of other subjects such as creative arts and London-weighting where universities face higher costs and there are some of the country’s most deprived areas.

“Even with these increases, courses across the board are still facing deficits on a per student, per year basis and with student numbers expected to grow again this year, we would urge Government to consider an ambitious and sustainable approach to funding high-quality university teaching in all subjects as it prepares for the CSR.”

Read the full consultation response:

Further Info:

 - The Russell Group represents 24 leading UK universities which are committed to maintaining an outstanding teaching and learning experience as well as world-leading research. We teach a quarter of the UK’s undergraduates, including four out of five doctors, half of all physical scientists and mathematicians and a third of postgraduates.

 - Despite the uplift proposed to Price Groups A and B in the 2021/22 recurrent grant, these courses are still facing deficits on a per student per year basis of £2,460 for medical students and £1,940 for STEM subjects.

 - The cuts proposed for 2021/22 will also see subjects in the new C3 Price Group (including drama, music and arts) face average deficits of £2,780 per student per year.

 - In addition, courses in the C1 Price Group of priority subjects such as nursing and IT are still facing deficits of £2,660 per student per year, while classroom-based subjects such as humanities and social sciences (Price Group D) are facing deficits of £1,000 per student per year.

 - As uncertainty remains over how admissions will proceed, it is possible that another unexpected increase in student numbers for 2021/22 could exacerbate these deficits further.

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