Newcastle University risking drop of £35 million as international student numbers decrease

A steep decline in the number of international students at Newcastle University will dramatically affect the university’s budget, reportedly leaving a £35 million hole as told to staff in an email.

This comes after Home Office figures have shown a 17 per cent drop in student visa applications between January to August 2023 and January to August 2024, following government changes in January 2024 that meant most students were no longer allowed to bring dependents with them.

Vice chancellor Chris Day sent an email to staff, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, explaining priority budget cuts whilst aiming to protect education; “Our aim is to protect core education and research while acknowledging that immediate cost controls will require difficult choices and prioritisation”.

The email further detailed immediate cost cutting measures which included reviews for the annual staff pay and academic promotions, as well as freezing changes to existing contracts and requests for longer working hours.

Other measures approved by Newcastle University’s Executive Board are freezes to recruitment to all new and “core funded” posts until further notice, although, exceptional cases will be considered if they are “business critical”, including cases involving buildings and equipment. It is expected the university’s payment cards will most likely also be suspended and withdrawn.

In order to avoid a financial deficit, Newcastle university will now have to find an extra £20 million in savings, despite reported built in £15 million of “mitigations” in the annual budget.

A spokesperson for Newcastle University commented: “We are in a sound financial position but like many other universities, we are managing the impact of a shortfall in international student recruitment this year resulting in a fall in income.

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“We are implementing cost-control measures which will allow us to protect our core business and strengthen our financial resilience.”

Northumbria University also announced a £12.5 million cut to its staffing budget in February of this year, which was also considered due to the drop in international students applications.

The budget cuts have been stated as a “crisis” by the University and College Union – with the fall in international student applications costing an estimated £10 million in lost income.

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