Seven UK universities yet to file accounts months after deadline

Seven UK universities have failed to publish their annual accounts months after the deadline, with the crisis-hit University of Dundee yet to file two sets of figures.

Institutions in England with financial years ending in July were expected to have logged their accounts for 2024-25 with the Office for Students (OfS) by the end of last year.

But according to a Freedom of Information request submitted by Times Higher Education, 24 higher education institutions applied to the regulator for an extension before 19 January.

Although one fewer than last year, when 25 said they were delayed by a similar point, the figures showed the continued financial difficulties providers are experiencing.

Many of these delayed accounts have since been published, and their contents hinted at reasons for the hold-ups.

University of Nottingham accounts published in early February showed an £85 million deficit mostly as a result of the plummeting value of some of its buildings, while Lincoln Bishop University’s accounts published last week showed it had sought a loan from Global University Systems because of issues managing cash flow at key crunch points in the year.

English institutions whose accounts have still not appeared include Brunel University of London, the University of Kent, Southampton Solent University, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

In 2022, the University of Buckingham was fined £37,231 by the English regulator for filing its accounts more than two years late.

OfS guidance advises that the reasons for institutions requesting an extension are varied, and no inferences should be made about the causes.

It does not routinely offer extensions and providers requesting a delay must set out the actions they will take to prevent future late submissions.

In Scotland, all annual accounts were meant to have been submitted to the Scottish Funding Council by the end of 2025.

The accounts of Dundee and the University of the Highlands and Islands still haven’t appeared, although the latter said its financial statements had been formally approved and submitted on time but have not yet appeared publicly because of a minor administrative issue.

At Dundee, the well-documented problems have been far more serious, with its accounts for 2023-24 delayed by more than a year. It told Times Higher Education it expects to publish these and the figures for 2024-25 in the “first half of this year”.

The University and College Union at Dundee said it viewed the failure of transparent financial reporting to be a “major governance failure” that has threatened the viability of the university.

A spokesperson added: “Unfortunately, much of this failure continues to date, with staff unions not able to view up-to-date management accounts. Worse still, new layers of executive management structures are being created and exorbitant high salaries continue to be paid to the university senior executive.”

In response, Dundee said it had honoured its commitment to share management accounts with the campus unions on a quarterly basis and would continue to do so.

Of the universities still to publish accounts, Brunel, Solent and Kent said they were working to agreed timelines with the OfS.

LSHTM said it was adjusting its 2024-25 statements to account for a “potential legacy financial liability” relating to the period between 1988 and 2003.

A spokesperson said it had been granted an extension and expected to file its accounts by the end of March.

CSSD intends to publish its accounts by the end of February. It was granted an extension by the OfS after it appointed new external auditors in August.

A spokesperson said: “Whilst the timing of this meant the audit process started later than usual, we still need to ensure we complete the audit according to our internal governance processes.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com