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Income of higher education institutions £27.9 billion in 2011/12

HESA publication 'HE Finance Plus 2011/12' released today

HE Finance Plus 2011/12 shows that the total income of higher education institutions (HEIs) in 2011/12 was £27.9 billion. Funding bodies provided £8.3 billion of this income, while tuition fees and education contracts contributed £9.7 billion.

The chart below shows the proportions of total income of UK higher education institutions by source in 2011/12:

Expenditure of UK HEIs by type 2011/12

Percentages in this chart have been rounded to one decimal place, therefore they may not sum exactly to 100%.


The different sources are further broken down in Table 1 below. The recurrent teaching and research grants account for most of the funding body income at £5.4 billion and £1.9 billion respectively.

Income from home and EU domicile students’ course fees was £5.7 billion – 20.4% of the total income for UK HEIs. Non-EU students’ course fees totalled £3.2 billion in 2011/12 accounting for 11.6% of total income.

The Research Councils, The Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh together contributed the largest portion of research grant and contract income. Research grants and contracts from non-UK sources contributed £923 million (3.3%) to the total income of UK HEIs.

Residences and catering operations added a further £1.7 billion to the income of HEIs while investment and endowment income added a further £285 million.

Table 1 - Sources of income for UK HEIs 2011/12 (£ thousands)
Source Income % of total income
Funding body grants 8,270,989 29.6%
   Recurrent (teaching) 5,366,385 19.2%
   Recurrent (research) 1,930,074 6.9%
   Recurrent - other (including special funding) 490,661 1.8%
   Release of deferred capital grants - buildings 276,873 1.0%
   Release of deferred capital grants - equipment 128,819 0.5%
   Grants for FE provision (not applicable to SFC) 78,177 0.3%
Tuition fees and education contracts 9,676,459 34.7%
   Home and EU domicile students course fees 5,702,778 20.4%
   Non-EU domicile students course fees 3,238,816 11.6%
   Non-credit-bearing course fees 425,512 1.5%
   FE course fees 54,033 0.2%
   Research training support grants 255,320 0.9%
Research grants and contracts 4,509,715 16.2%
   BIS Research Councils, The Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1,509,077 5.4%
   UK-based charities 938,817 3.4%
   UK central government bodies/local authorities, health and hospital authorities 805,108 2.9%
   UK industry, commerce and public corporations 284,684 1.0%
   EU Sources 599,729 2.1%
   Non-EU sources 323,540 1.2%
   Other sources 48,760 0.2%
Other income 5,180,126 18.6%
   Other services rendered 1,625,974 5.8%
   Residences and catering operations (including conferences) 1,652,345 5.9%
   Grants from local authorities 9,936 0.0%
   Income from health and hospital authorities (excluding teaching contracts for student provision) 361,655 1.3%
   Release of deferred capital grants 118,457 0.4%
   Income from intellectual property rights 54,205 0.2%
   Other operating income 1,357,554 4.9%
Endowment and investment income 285,027 1.0%
Total income* 27,922,316 100.0%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12. An equivalent table for 2010/11 can be found here.
* Includes income from joint ventures.

Table 2 shows the changes in income from the major sources from the previous year. Tuition fee income increased by 7.8% while income from funding body grants fell by 6.7%.

Table 2 - Sources of income for UK HEIs 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Funding body grants 8,865,958 8,270,989 -6.7%
Tuition fees and education contracts 8,979,964 9,676,459 7.8%
Research grants and contracts 4,435,783 4,509,715 1.7%
Other income 5,000,775 5,180,126 3.6%
Endowment and investment income 240,926 285,027 18.3%
Total Income* 27,523,406 27,922,316 1.4%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12. See Annex below for EnglandWalesScotland and Northern Ireland figures
* Includes income from joint ventures.

Expenditure £26.7 billion

Total expenditure of UK HEIs in 2011/12 was £26.7 billion. Staff costs contributed £14.8 billion towards this total. The chart below shows the total expenditure of UK higher education institutions by type in 2011/12:

Expenditure of UK HEIs by type 2011/12

Table 3 shows the changes in expenditure for the major types from the previous year. While overall expenditure increased by 1.8%, expenditure on staff costs only increased by 0.5%.

Table 3 - Expenditure by type for UK HEIs 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Staff costs 14,728,278 14,808,923 0.5%
Other operating expenses 9,626,469 9,950,643 3.4%
Depreciation 1,478,023 1,543,750 4.4%
Interest and other finance costs 372,657 381,413 2.3%
Total Expenditure 26,205,427 26,684,729 1.8%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12.    See Annex below for EnglandWalesScotland and Northern Ireland figures

HE Finance Plus 2011/12

HE Finance Plus 2011/12 includes finance data broken down to institutional level including tuition fees and education contracts, balance sheets, cash flow, capital expenditure, financial profiles and more. HE Finance Plus 2011/12 is available to purchase and instantly download from our website

The related HESA product, Finances of Higher Education Institutions, containing a subset of the HESA finance collection will be published in May. Results of the 2011/12 HE Business and Community Interaction Survey will also be published in May. A full schedule of all HESA releases for 2013 can be found here.

Notes for Editors

  1. Press enquiries should be directed to:
    • Simon Kemp
    • HESA Press Officer
    • 01242 211120
    • [email protected] 
    • 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
  2. Data in the tables represent cash figures and are not adjusted for inflation.
  3. The standard annual tuition fees for home and EU full-time undergraduate students in 2011/12 were £3,375 for institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  4. Where comparisons are made between the latest academic financial year (2011/12) and the previous year (2010/11), the previous year’s figures are those reported in the re-stated financial statements.
  5. Values in Charts A and B are shown rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion. The sum of these values may not match the total values given in the text. Percentages in all Tables and Charts are shown rounded to one decimal place and may not sum to 100%.
  6. HESA Finance data is collected from all publicly funded Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK, plus the University of Buckingham, which is a non-publicly-funded institution. The 2011/12 data covers 163 HEIs (130 in England, 11 in Wales, 18 in Scotland and 4 in Northern Ireland).
  7. The data in this release relates to all UK HE institutions. Figures for the individual nations of the UK are available in the Annex below: EnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandNon-EU domicile students' course fees.
  8. Equivalent press releases for 2010/11 and 2009/10 can be found here and here
  9. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
  10. Definitions of the terms used in this press release can be found on-line here.

Annex - equivalent tables for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

England

Sources of income for HEIs in England 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Funding body grants 7,209,142 6,690,054 -7.2%
Tuition fees and education contracts 7,766,193 8,390,461 8.0%
Research grants and contracts 3,565,012 3,648,219 2.3%
Other income 4,209,446 4,332,033 2.9%
Endowment and investment income 196,132 236,125 20.4%
Total Income* 22,945,925 23,296,892 1.5%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12
* Includes income from joint ventures.
Expenditure by type for HEIs in England 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Staff costs 12,163,931 12,258,500 0.8%
Other operating expenses 8,035,296 8,318,039 3.5%
Depreciation 1,237,312 1,290,567 4.3%
Interest and other finance costs 332,783 342,506 2.9%
Total Expenditure 21,769,322 22,209,612 2.0%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12

Wales

Sources of income for HEIs in Wales 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Funding body grants 415,676 395,058 -5.0%
Tuition fees and education contracts 409,408 432,178 5.6%
Research grants and contracts 168,831 169,943 0.7%
Other income 243,544 269,705 10.7%
Endowment and investment income 8,100 8,455 4.4%
Total Income* 1,245,559 1,275,339 2.4%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12
* Includes income from joint ventures.
Expenditure by type for HEIs in Wales 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Staff costs 712,252 723,834 1.6%
Other operating expenses 431,517 446,622 3.5%
Depreciation 54,811 60,734 10.8%
Interest and other finance costs 13,546 13,071 -3.5%
Total Expenditure 1,212,126 1,244,261 2.7%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12

Scotland

Sources of income for HEIs in Scotland 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Funding body grants 1,048,772 985,146 -6.1%
Tuition fees and education contracts 678,181 722,198 6.5%
Research grants and contracts 612,193 609,886 -0.4%
Other income 462,217 492,510 6.6%
Endowment and investment income 29,150 32,672 12.1%
Total Income* 2,830,513 2,842,412 0.4%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12
* Includes income from joint ventures.
Expenditure by type for HEIs in Scotland 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Staff costs 1,559,231 1,545,126 -0.9%
Other operating expenses 990,828 1,019,472 2.9%
Depreciation 158,286 164,565 4.0%
Interest and other finance costs 21,810 21,575 -1.1%
Total Expenditure 2,730,155 2,750,738 0.8%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12

Northern Ireland

Sources of income for HEIs in Northern Ireland 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Funding body grants 192,368 200,731 4.3%
Tuition fees and education contracts 126,182 131,622 4.3%
Research grants and contracts 89,747 81,667 -9.0%
Other income 85,568 85,878 0.4%
Endowment and investment income 7,544 7,775 3.1%
Total Income* 501,409 507,673 1.2%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12
* Includes income from joint ventures.
Expenditure by type for HEIs in Northern Ireland 2010/11 and 2011/12 (£ thousands)
  2010/11 2011/12 % change
Staff costs 292,864 281,463 -3.9%
Other operating expenses 168,828 166,510 -1.4%
Depreciation 27,614 27,884 1.0%
Interest and other finance costs 4,518 4,261 -5.7%
Total Expenditure 493,824 480,118 -2.8%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12

Non-EU domicile students’ course fees

Income from non-EU domicile students course fees by location of institution 2011/12
Location of institution Non-EU domicile students course fees (£ thousands) % of total income
England 2,770,473 11.9%
Wales 117,631 9.2%
Scotland 336,585 11.8%
Northern Ireland 14,127 2.8%
United Kingdom 3,238,816 11.6%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2011/12. An equivalent table for 2010/11 can be found here.
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