04 October 2026
The shift of university costs to the individual
London Economics analysis shows how the cost of university has shifted from the government to individuals, with the contribution of the Exchequer falling from 48% in 2012-13 to 16% in 2024-25.
This is a saving for the government of around £5.6 billion, a cost that has been transferred to students, who now fund 84% of the cost instead of 52%.
The level of funding for university teaching, from government and students combined, has fallen by 23% in real terms from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
Universities UK notes that the original vision for funding was to move to a ‘fair’ 50:50 split between government and student, which is broadly the status in 2012-13. However, with students now covering 84% of the cost, they are covering three times the cost that those a decade before them did.
Universities UK says government should make changes to the funding system to ‘ensure fairness, safeguard people on lower incomes from disproportionate payments, and ensure future generations can benefit from a well-funded HE system without bearing more of the cost than previous generations’.
Read more about the university funding analysis.
This is a saving for the government of around £5.6 billion, a cost that has been transferred to students, who now fund 84% of the cost instead of 52%.
The level of funding for university teaching, from government and students combined, has fallen by 23% in real terms from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
Universities UK notes that the original vision for funding was to move to a ‘fair’ 50:50 split between government and student, which is broadly the status in 2012-13. However, with students now covering 84% of the cost, they are covering three times the cost that those a decade before them did.
Universities UK says government should make changes to the funding system to ‘ensure fairness, safeguard people on lower incomes from disproportionate payments, and ensure future generations can benefit from a well-funded HE system without bearing more of the cost than previous generations’.
Read more about the university funding analysis.
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