Almost 4,000 courses have been scrapped at UK universities in the past year, figures show, as institutions struggle to balance the books and students baulk at the cost of gaining a degree.
Less selective universities with lower fees were most affected by the reduction in courses, risking even greater competition for places at more expensive universities, research by Times Higher Education (THE) revealed. It did not name the universities hit hardest.
The maximum tuition fee for full-time undergraduate courses is £9,535 ($12,900) for UK citizens, but for EU and international students it can range between £11,400 and £38,000, the British Council said. The government is also toughening the rules on visas for international students as it attempts to reduce immigration numbers.
The analysis of almost 45,000 courses in its 360 databases found that about 3,900 had been dropped between 2024-2025 and the coming academic year. Twelve per cent of the discarded undergraduate courses were at universities with low fees, compared with six per cent at those in the medium range and five per cent at the highest end of the market.
The most expensive universities were also least affected at postgraduate level, shedding seven per cent of courses, whereas postgrad courses at mid-level universities fell by 11 per cent. At the lower end, it dropped by 13 per cent. Overall, 47 per cent of the scrapped courses were at low-tariff universities, 28 per cent at medium-fee institutions and 25 per cent at high-fee universities.
Amy Ross, principal consultant at THE, said fewer subject options would cause concern, but the higher education sector was in a period of “volatility and transition”. She added that universities were re-evaluating what they offer while responding to financial pressure and needed to develop “innovative programmes which respond to changes in student demand”.
The most affected undergraduate courses were those in agriculture, food, physical sciences, social sciences and biological and sports sciences. At postgraduate level, history, philosophy and religious studies were hit badly.
The least affected were medicine and dentistry.
Language courses dropped by two per cent at the top universities, but that rose to 29 per cent at the other end of the scale, the analysis showed. It was a similar picture for mathematical sciences, where more than a third of the 35 courses at low-fee universities were dropped compared with four per cent everywhere else.
Graeme Atherton, associate pro vice-chancellor for regional engagement at the University of West London, said the figures for maths suggested students must now attend a higher-fee university to study the subject.
Glen O’Hara, professor of modern and contemporary history at Oxford Brookes University, said prospective students with lower A-level grades or those unable to relocate would suffer, with “talent wasted” as opportunities closed down.
Lower enrolment for certain courses was highlighted by THE as the most likely reason for shutting down a course.
Despite fewer courses being offered, a record number of students were accepted by UK universities this year, up 3.1 per cent to 439,180, admissions service Ucas found. Elite institutions such as the Russell Group of 20 top universities took the lion’s share of domestic applicants.
Paul Ashwin, professor of higher education at Lancaster University, said the perceived link between cost and quality meant it was understandable that students would “trade up”, but warned that doing so risked causing a “vicious circle”.
