The universities of York and St Andrews are among the latest prestigious UK institutions to report deficits in their financial accounts for last year.

Alongside King’s College London and the University of Nottingham, it means that three of the 18 members of the Russell Group to have released their accounts so far made a loss in 2023-24.

Overall, more than a quarter of the accounts analysed by ̽����Ƶ reveal deficits, once movements in pension valuations are excluded.

show it has an underlying deficit of £13 million for 2023-24 – up from a £5.5 million deficit the year before.

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This was primarily a result of below-target student recruitment, along with not achieving staff vacancy savings targets and investment in a new financial system, the document reveals.

The oldest university in Scotland said that restrictions introduced by the previous Westminster government created a “particularly unwelcoming environment for overseas students”, which had a “significant bearing” on its financial results.

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It fell the equivalent of 265 full-time students short of its target for overseas postgraduate taught (PGT), digital PGT, and postgraduate research enrolments, resulting in a £6.9 million shortfall in tuition overall and £1.4 million shortfall in student accommodation income.

“Overseas PGT recruitment suffered the impact of government announcements and a very competitive global market felt across the sector. All of these resulted in vacancies in our student accommodation, which is highly unusual,” St Andrews says.

York reported a consolidated £9 million adjusted deficit, which was its second successive year of making a loss.

However, it said increased income and cost-saving measures had allowed it to improve its position from the £13 million deficit seen the year before. The university alone, excluding subsidiaries, reported a £6 million deficit, which was down from a £24 million deficit in 2022-23.

Despite increasing overseas tuition fee income, international student numbers fell by 9 per cent.

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“The financial environment across the higher education sector has continued to be challenging, with fixed domestic student tuition fees, a volatile international student market and continued inflationary pressures,” say.

Before pension costs are factored in, the University of Leicester also reported a consolidated deficit of £8.3 million – compared with a £2.6 million surplus in 2022-23.

The institution says it continues to face a difficult operating environment, with the fall largely related to expenditure increasing at a higher rate than income.

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“Continued inflationary pressures on pay and non-pay [items], plus a challenging international student recruitment market will impact working capital and liquidity levels,” it adds.

Falling international student numbers also impacted Brunel, University of London, which plunged from a surplus of £4 million in 2022-23 to an adjusted deficit of £13 million in its most recent accounts.

The institution says a 13 per cent drop in student numbers was primarily responsible for a fall in income of more than £12 million. The number of international postgraduate students decreased by 26 per cent in just one year.

Falling international student applications and changes in UK student recruitment application patterns placed the University of Hull under “considerable financial pressure”, resulting in a £17.3 million deficit. And elsewhere, the University of Surrey reported an underlying deficit of £17.9 million.

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com