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Income of higher education providers tops £30 billion, expenditure £29.4 billion in 2013/14

HESA publication HE Finance Plus 2013/14 released today

HE Finance Plus 2013/14 shows that the total income of higher education providers5 in 2013/14 was £30.7 billion. Funding bodies provided £6.1 billion of this income, while tuition fees and education contracts contributed £13.7 billion.

The chart below shows the proportions of total income of UK higher education providers by source in 2013/14:

Income of UK HE providers by source 2013/14

2013/14 was the second year of the £9,000 undergraduate fee cap.6 The relative contribution of tuition fees to total income continued to grow, while funding body grants decreased in both relative and absolute terms. The chart below shows the share of income contributed by each source for the last six years:

Income of UK HE providers by source 2008/09 to 2013/14

Details

The different sources of income in 2013/14 are broken down further in Table 1 below. Income from home and EU domicile students’ course fees was £9.0 billion – 29.1% of the total income for UK HE providers. Non-EU students’ course fees totalled £3.9 billion accounting for 12.7% of total income.

Table 1 - Sources of income for UK HE providers 2013/14 (£ thousands)
Source Income % of total income
Funding body grants 6,079,892 19.8%
   Recurrent (teaching) 3,187,055 10.4%
   Recurrent (research) 1,960,868 6.4%
   Recurrent - other (including special funding) 429,343 1.4%
   Release of deferred capital grants - buildings 294,098 1.0%
   Release of deferred capital grants - equipment 102,307 0.3%
   Grants for FE provision7 106,221 0.3%
Tuition fees and education contracts 13,677,846 44.5%
   Home and EU domicile students course fees 8,958,009 29.1%
   Non-EU domicile students course fees 3,891,966 12.7%
   Non-credit-bearing course fees 489,969 1.6%
   FE course fees 50,278 0.2%
   Research training support grants 287,624 0.9%
Research grants and contracts 5,083,991 16.5%
   BIS Research Councils, The Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1,665,878 5.4%
   UK-based charities 994,759 3.2%
   UK central government bodies/local authorities, health and hospital authorities 886,708 2.9%
   UK industry, commerce and public corporations 312,992 1.0%
   EU Sources 789,201 2.6%
   Non-EU sources 378,082 1.2%
   Other sources 56,371 0.2%
Other income 5,556,208 18.1%
   Other services rendered 1,759,625 5.7%
   Residences and catering operations (including conferences) 1,816,142 5.9%
   Grants from local authorities 13,845 0.0%
   Income from health and hospital authorities (excluding teaching contracts for student provision) 322,979 1.1%
   Release of deferred capital grants 116,149 0.4%
   Income from intellectual property rights 64,497 0.2%
   Other operating income 1,462,971 4.8%
Endowment and investment income 340,441 1.1%
Total income* 30,738,378 100.0%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14. An equivalent table for 2012/13 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 17.3% while income from funding body grants fell by 13.9%.

Table 2 - Sources of income for UK HE providers 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Funding body grants 7,064,999 6,079,892 -13.9%
Tuition fees and education contracts 11,663,313 13,677,846 17.3%
Research grants and contracts 4,798,076 5,083,991 6.0%
Other income 5,385,729 5,556,208 3.2%
Endowment and investment income 289,984 340,441 17.4%
Total income* 29,202,101 30,738,378 5.3%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14
* Includes income from joint ventures.

Expenditure £29.4 billion

Total expenditure of UK higher education providers in 2013/14 was £29.4 billion. Staff costs contributed £16.3 billion towards this total. The chart below shows the total expenditure of UK higher education providers by type of expenditure in 2013/14:

Expenditure of UK HE providers by type 2013/14

Table 3 shows the changes in expenditure for the major types from the previous year. Total expenditure increased 5.1% between 2012/13 and 2013/14. Staff costs, which accounted for more than half of total expenditure, increased by 5.4%. Statistics on the number of staff employed at UK HE providers can be found here.

Table 3 - Expenditure by type for UK HE providers 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Staff costs 15,448,158 16,289,825 5.4%
Other operating expenses 10,504,863 10,962,068 4.4%
Depreciation 1,620,320 1,755,865 8.4%
Interest and other finance costs 402,637 398,418 -1.0%
Total expenditure 27,975,978 29,406,176 5.1%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14

HE Finance Plus 2013/14

HE Finance Plus 2013/14 includes finance data broken down to HE provider level including tuition fees and education contracts, balance sheets, cash flow, capital expenditure, financial profiles and more. HE Finance Plus 2013/14 is available to purchase and instantly download.

The related HESA product, Finances of Higher Education Providers, containing a subset of the HESA finance collection will be published in April. Results of the 2013/14 HE Business and Community Interaction Survey will be published on 31 March. A full schedule of all HESA releases for 2015 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. Where comparisons are made between the latest academic financial year (2013/14) and previous years, the previous years' figures are those reported in the re-stated financial statements.
  4. Values in Charts 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%.
  5. HESA Finance data is collected from all publicly funded higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK, plus the University of Buckingham, which is a privately funded HE provider (collectively "higher education providers"). The 2013/14 data covers 161 HE providers (130 in England, 9 in Wales, 18 in Scotland and 4 in Northern Ireland).
  6. Fees for undergraduate students from Northern Ireland or the EU (excl. England, Wales and Scotland) studying at HE providers in Northern Ireland are subject to a lower fee cap. Undergraduate students from Scotland or the EU (excl. England, Wales and Northern Ireland) do not pay tuition fees if studying at an HE provider in Scotland. The Welsh government pay part of the fees for undergraduate students from Wales studying at He providers in the UK.
  7. Grant for FE provision are not applicable to the Scottish Funding Council.
  8. The data in this release relates to all UK HE providers. Figures for the individual nations of the UK are available in the Annex below: EnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandNon-EU domicile students' course fees.
  9. Equivalent press releases for 2012/13, 2011/12, 2010/11 and 2009/10.
  10. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
  11. See Finance Definitions for explanations of the terms used in this press release.
  12. See Data Intelligence Notes for any known issues with with HESA finance statistics.

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

England

Sources of income for HE providers in England 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Funding body grants 5,512,095 4,523,977 -17.9%
Tuition fees and education contracts 10,167,850 12,007,872 18.1%
Research grants and contracts 3,902,381 4,124,385 5.7%
Other income 4,550,701 4,683,674 2.9%
Endowment and investment income 237,041 276,605 16.7%
Total income* 24,370,068 25,616,513 5.1%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14
* Includes income from joint ventures.
Expenditure by type for HE providers in England 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Staff costs 12,783,935 13,477,956 5.4%
Other operating expenses 8,783,729 9,159,923 4.3%
Depreciation 1,363,017 1,473,695 8.1%
Interest and other finance costs 356,721 359,204 0.7%
Total expenditure 23,287,402 24,470,778 5.1%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14

Wales

Sources of income for HE providers in Wales 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Funding body grants 294,675 249,073 -15.5%
Tuition fees and education contracts 559,806 652,986 16.6%
Research grants and contracts 175,149 191,763 9.5%
Other income 267,820 276,826 3.4%
Endowment and investment income 8,803 8,344 -5.2%
Total income* 1,306,253 1,378,992 5.6%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14
* Includes income from joint ventures.
Expenditure by type for HE providers in Wales 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Staff costs 756,333 778,994 3.0%
Other operating expenses 456,688 474,917 4.0%
Depreciation 64,066 68,895 7.5%
Interest and other finance costs 12,116 10,826 -10.6%
Total expenditure 1,289,203 1,333,632 3.4%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14

Scotland

Sources of income for HE providers in Scotland 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Funding body grants 1,067,354 1,112,367 4.2%
Tuition fees and education contracts 786,587 861,215 9.5%
Research grants and contracts 639,224 679,505 6.3%
Other income 492,599 520,509 5.7%
Endowment and investment income 37,119 46,015 24.0%
Total income* 3,022,883 3,219,611 6.5%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14
* Includes income from joint ventures.
Expenditure by type for HE providers in Scotland 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Staff costs 1,624,560 1,737,866 7.0%
Other operating expenses 1,104,965 1,167,535 5.7%
Depreciation 164,641 181,147 10.0%
Interest and other finance costs 28,355 24,423 -13.9%
Total expenditure 2,922,521 3,110,971 6.4%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14

Northern Ireland

Sources of income for HE providers in Northern Ireland 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Funding body grants 190,875 194,475 1.9%
Tuition fees and education contracts 149,070 155,773 4.5%
Research grants and contracts 81,322 88,338 8.6%
Other income 74,609 75,199 0.8%
Endowment and investment income 7,021 9,477 35.0%
Total income* 502,897 523,262 4.0%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14
* Includes income from joint ventures.
Expenditure by type for HE providers in Northern Ireland 2012/13 and 2013/14 (£ thousands)
  2012/13 2013/14 % change
Staff costs 283,330 295,009 4.1%
Other operating expenses 159,481 159,693 0.1%
Depreciation 28,596 32,128 12.4%
Interest and other finance costs 5,445 3,965 -27.2%
Total expenditure 476,852 490,795 2.9%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14

Non-EU domicile students’ course fees

Income from non-EU domicile students course fees by location of HE provider 2013/14
Location of HE provider Non-EU domicile students course fees (£ thousands) % of total income
England 3,326,336 13.0%
Wales 143,397 10.4%
Scotland 402,630 12.5%
Northern Ireland 19,603 3.7%
United Kingdom 3,891,966 12.7%
Source: HESA HE Finance Plus 2013/14. An equivalent table for 2012/13 can be found here.
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