Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of universities at risk of insolvency in each of the last five years, broken down by Russell Group and non-Russell Group institutions.

The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education in England, is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability. Its most recent report on the sector’s financial health, published in May 2026, can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/financial-sustainability-of-higher-education-providers-in-england-2026/.

While the OfS has statutory duties in relation to the financial sustainability of the sector, the government has a clear interest in understanding the level of risk across the sector. As such, we continue to work closely with the OfS to understand the sector’s changing financial landscape.

If a provider was at risk of failure, our priority would be to work with the OfS, the provider and other government departments to ensure the best interests of students and taxpayers are protected.