Revealed: The Russell Group unis with the biggest deficits right now

It’s not exactly secret that UK unis are having financial troubles. Like, a lot of them. Three out of four UK universities are expected to go into the red in 2025, according to The Guardian. Even fancy Russell Group unis are struggling. Seven out of 25 Russell Group unis now have deficits. This includes some really boujie unis like the University of Cambridge and King’s College London, which you would just not expect to have the same money problems as everywhere else.

This sucks for students, because if unis are strapped for funds, they might have to take drastic action to save cash. UK unis have already started cutting less popular modules, getting rid of your lecturers, and even shutting down whole departments.

This article is banging on about each uni’s “operating deficit” – which is the amount of money by which the uni’s expenditure exceeded their income in the 2023/2024 academic year. You with me? Basically, it’s how much each uni went over budget by. The operating deficits don’t count all the money tied up in pension schemes.

So, here are the Russell Group unis with the biggest operating deficits right now.

7. University of York – £9 million

Fear not! The Uni of York is much less broke than it was this time last year. Yay, I guess? York had a £13 million deficit in 2023.

York saved money this year by disposing of 113 staff members. The uni also lowered the entry requirements for international students, in the hope that this would encourage more of them to apply.

6. Queen’s University Belfast – £12.7 million

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A moment of appreciation please for how peng Queen’s University Belfast’s campus is
(Credit: Steven Lek via Creative Commons)

Tuition fees work differently in Northern Ireland to England, Scotland and Wales. If Northern Irish students study at a Northern Irish uni, their tuition fees are only £4,750. So, Queen’s Uni has really felt the impact of there being fewer international students in the UK.

The vice-chancellor Stephen Kingon explained, “The Higher Education sector across the UK continues to operate in a challenging environment – a situation particularly acute in Northern Ireland.”

5. University of Cambridge – £15.7 million

Yes, really. The uni has plenty of money stashed away under the floorboards, and Trinity College legit has more money than Taylor Swift. But lots of Cambridge’s cash is tied up in lands and investments. They ended up with an operating deficit of £15.7, which is way more than last year’s £9.5 million.

4. University of Nottingham – £17 million

Notts apparently has such a big deficit this year because they spent £12.1 million on restructuring the uni – which will in theory save them money in the long-run?

The uni’s annual accounts blamed the deficit on “A level grade deflation”, “a more challenging and competitive student recruitment environment” and a drop in student numbers.

3. King’s College London – £19.3 million

Apparently some London unis are just as broke as all London students are
(Credit: Fil Brit via Creative Commons)

The uni’s latest financial reports show they’ve got a deficit of £19.3 million. This is quite a dramatic change – last year they had a surplus of £144.9 million. King’s apparently gained 1,400 fewer freshers than they’d planned. Less international students are applying to King’s than before.

2. Cardiff University – £32.8 million

It was reported at the end of 2024 that Cardiff University has a working deficit of £32.8 million. If they don’t come up with some more cost-cutting measures, then the uni’s deficit could rise to £65 million soon. Yikes.

1. University of Sheffield – about £50 million

The BBC reported at the end of 2024 that Sheffield was facing a huge £50 million shortfall. The uni is defintiely not living, laughing or loving right now – they got rid of 298 staff members in the 2023/2024 academic year in an attempt to save money.

Featured image of the University of Nottingham by Greentreepencil via Creative Commons.