Two more Scottish universities fall into the red amid student recruitment shortfalls
Two more Scottish universities have fallen into the red amid challenges recruiting students.
Newly-published accounts for 2023/24 show both Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen and Abertay University in Dundee moved from recording an operating surplus to a deficit last year.
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Hide AdRGU posted a deficit before other losses of £6.15m, down from an underlying surplus of £2.74m in 2022/23.
Abertay, meanwhile, reported a deficit before other gains or losses of £578,000 last year, having had a operating surplus of £1.217m in 2022/23.
Both universities highlighted issues relating to the recruitment of students in their annual reports.
Abertay University said that in 2023/24 it “under-recruited” to its non-controlled places for Scottish undergraduates by 10 per cent, or 332 full time equivalent (FTE) students, with a similar shortfall in 2024/25, which is 12 per cent below target, or 374 FTE students.
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Hide AdUnder the Scottish Government’s “free tuition” model, universities receive funding for a certain number of places for Scottish undergraduates, and can have to repay part of their grants if they fail to fill those places.
Cash-strapped Dundee University has recently confirmed a recruitment shortfall of just over 300 Scottish undergraduate entrants for semester one of the current academic year.
Abertay University said “several different factors” contributed to its shortfall, the most important being that EU students are no longer funded by the Scottish Funding Council and therefore the pool of eligible students has reduced.
At the same time, the number of places for students across the sector increased to mitigate the impact of the SQA exam results fiasco during the pandemic.
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Hide Ad“This imbalance in the increased availability of places against a depleted supply of eligible applicants has intensified competition for recruitment of Scottish students as all institutions face a similar challenge,” Abertay University’s annual report said.


Robert Gordon University (RGU) said when all funded students are taken into account, including postgraduate and part-time undergraduates, its shortfall against funded places has increased to 12 per cent.
In November, RGU management told staff it planned to make a further 135 redundancies to ensure its long-term “viability”, coming after 130 workers had already left last year under voluntary severance schemes.
Heriot-Watt University posted a £10.5m underlying deficit for last year, while there was a loss of £14.4m at the University of the West of Scotland, an underlying deficit of £13m at St Andrews University, and of £8.5m at Aberdeen University.
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Hide AdGlasgow University’s recorded an operating surplus of £28.7m, Napier University had a surplus before exceptional items of £2m, at Glasgow Caledonian University there was an underlying surplus of £13.5m, and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) recorded a surplus before other gains and losses of £4.6m.
Queen Margaret University has also now posted a £3.125m operating surplus for last year, up from £162,000 in the year before.
Including gains on investments and pension scheme changes, Abertay recorded an overall surplus of £136,000 last year. At RGU there was a deficit of £4.34m.
A spokesperson for Abertay University said: “The university is in a stable position and takes a prudent, balanced and long-term approach to financial planning.
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Hide Ad“We will soon be launching a new five-year strategy designed to scale-up existing work to diversify income streams through a range of activities, including the delivery of online degrees and overseas and UK partnerships, as well as investment in student recruitment.”
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