Revealed: Leeds University lost £54m in tuition fee income last year despite £9,250 fees

HESA data has revealed that the University of Leeds lost a staggering £53,769,000 in tuition fee income in the 2024-5 academic year compared to the previous year. This loss totals more than the entire annual income of some UK universities.

Leeds isn’t alone in seeing a reduction in income from student tuition fees. Russell Group universities as a whole saw a five per cent rise in tuition fee income last year, but across all UK universities, this figure stood at just two per cent – the lowest increase on record.

Additionally, like Leeds, some universities saw shortfalls in the tens of millions.

Six other Russell Group universities, including Exeter, Southampton and Sheffield, saw falls in tuition fee income in 2024-5, ranging from £45,970,000 to £46,000. In both years, the £9,250 tuition fee remained unchanged, indicating that this decline can only have occurred due to fewer student enrolments at these universities.

Most Read

Chris Watts makes gruesome admission of his crimes in detailed letters written from prison

Emily in Paris star tragically dies following health battle as family releases statement

Texts between Mackenzie Shirilla and dad reveal what their relationship was really like

Phil McNaull, former finance director at the University of Edinburgh, has raised concerns about what this could mean for other institutions, saying: “If the bigger universities have the capacity to drop their entry requirements, they will immediately start to cannibalise the lower universities, who were taking in students at lower grades.”

Tuition fees for the 2026-7 academic year are scheduled to rise to £9,790 on 1st August, in line with UK inflation rates. This may aid universities in temporarily increasing their tuition fee income, although it will increase the burden of tuition fee debt that students are left with after graduation.

However, it is important to note that different universities have various streams of income. This means that a rise or fall in tuition fee income doesn’t necessarily act as an indicator for the institution’s financial position as a whole.

For more of the latest news, guides, gossip and memes, follow The Leeds Tab on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

Featured image via Pexels.