£16.9 billion income for the HE sector
2003/04 HESA Finance Data Released
The higher education sector had a total income of £16.9 billion in the 2003/04 academic year. This compares to £15.7 billion in 2002/03. In contrast higher education institutions reported an expenditure of £16.6 billion in 2003/04 and £15.5 billion 2002/03. The surplus3 of income over expenditure increased from £218 million in 2002/03 to £241 million in 2003/04.
When analysing sources of income in more detail, grants from funding councils contributed the largest proportion of income at £6.5 billion. This marks a rise of 7.7 per cent on the £6.0 billion from funding council grants in 2002/03. Income from tuition fees and education grants & contracts saw the largest year-on-year increase at 8.9%, from £3.75 billion in 2002/03 to £4.08 billion in 2003/04.
| Sources of income 2002/03 and 2003/04 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| (£thousands) | |||
| 2003/04 | 2002/03 | % change | |
| Funding council grants | 6516597 | 6049216 | 7.7% |
| Tuition fees & education grants & contracts | 4078976 | 3747081 | 8.9% |
| Research grants & contracts | 2714591 | 2597074 | 4.5% |
| Other income | 3320439 | 3061975 | 8.4% |
| Endowment & investment income | 236438 | 235945 | 0.2% |
| Total income | 16867041 | 15691291 | 7.5% |
Income from “other” sources rose by 8.4 per cent to £3.32 billion. Examples of income sources included in this category are: UK central government bodies, local authorities, health & hospital authorities; UK industry, commerce & public corporations; and residences and catering operations. Expenditure rose by 7.4% or £1.2 billion. This rise is fairly even across the various types of expenditure as shown by the table below, with the exception of interest payable which showed a small increase.
| Expenditure by type 2003/04 and 2002/03 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| (£ thousands) | |||
| 2003/04 | 2002/03 | % change | |
| Staff costs | 9728675 | 9032522 | 7.7% |
| Other operating expenses | 5904120 | 5513683 | 7.1% |
| Depreciation | 791329 | 727060 | 8.8% |
| Interest payable | 201588 | 199885 | 0.9% |
| Total expenditure | 16625712 | 15473150 | 7.4% |
The data is released in HESA’s annual CD-ROM product, HE Finance Plus 2003/04.4
Notes to editors
- Press enquiries should be directed to:
- HESA Press Officer
- 01242 211133
- [email protected]
- 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
- Where comparisons are made between the latest financial year 2003/04 and the previous year 2002/03, the previous year’s figures are those reported in the re-stated financial statements.
- The deficit/surplus is on continuing operations after depreciation of fixed assets at valuation and before exceptional items, tax and minority interest.
- HE Finance Plus 2003/04 is an annual CD-ROM published by HESA. It is available to the public from HESA Customer Services, telephone 01242 211155 for more information. The HESA reference volume Resources of Higher Education Institutions 2003/04, due to be published in May, also contains data on HE finances as well as detailed data on HE staff.
Ends
