| 21 May 2007 |  |
| To | Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions Heads of universities in Northern Ireland |
| Direct Line | 0117 931 7300 |
| Direct Fax | 0117 931 7203 |
Circular letter number 16/2007
For further information contact Andrew Beazer, tel 0117 931 7223, e-mail a.beazer@hefce.ac.uk
Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal
Transparency Review data reported for 2005-06
1. I am writing to report on data received for 2005-06 from universities and colleges under Transparency Review reporting. No response is required to this letter.
2. The 2005-06 Transparency Review data indicate an overall deficit of £1,114 million for HEFCE-funded institutions. This includes the return for financing and investment and the infrastructure adjustment, which are added to reported expenditure in institutions' audited financial statements. These adjustments provide an estimate of the full economic costs of institutions' activities. In the 2005-06 academic year the value of these adjustments across the sector was 7.9 per cent of reported expenditure, or £1,258 million, reflecting the extent to which full economic costs exceeded actual recurrent expenditure.
3. Table 1 shows the 2005-06 data across Teaching, Research and Other activities for HEFCE-funded higher education institutions (HEIs). Table 2 shows the same information for the UK as a whole.
Table 1 Transparency Review data 2005-06 for HEFCE-funded HEIs
| £ million | Publicly Funded Teaching | Publicly Funded Teaching | Publicly Funded Teaching | Non-Publicly Funded Teaching | Publicly Funded Research | Non-Publicly Funded Research | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regulated | Non-regulated | Total | ||||||
| Income | 4,857 | 1,986 | 6,843 | 1,573 | 3,333 | 1,147 | 3,241 | 16,137 |
| Costs | 5,123 | 1,965 | 7,088 | 1,158 | 4,384 | 1,733 | 2,888 | 17,251 |
| Surplus/(deficit) | (266) | 21 | (245) | 415 | (1051) | (586) | 353 | (1,114) |
Table 2 Transparency Review data 2005-06 for UK HEIs
| £ million | Publicly Funded Teaching | Publicly Funded Teaching | Publicly Funded Teaching | Non-Publicly Funded Teaching | Publicly Funded Research | Non-Publicly Funded Research | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regulated | Non-regulated | Total | ||||||
| Income | 6,070 | 2,275 | 8,345 | 1,810 | 4,115 | 1,385 | 3,831 | 19,486 |
| Costs | 6,360 | 2,247 | 8,607 | 1,310 | 5,383 | 2,085 | 3,391 | 20,776 |
| Surplus/(deficit) | (290) | 28 | (262) | 500 | (1,268) | (700) | 440 | (1,290) |
4. This is the second year that institutions have reported income as well as costs.
5. We expect the position to change in future years following the introduction of variable tuition fees for full-time undergraduates, and as more funders move towards paying the full economic costs of activities. However we recognise that institutions are also facing rising costs.
Yours sincerely
Professor David Eastwood
Chief Executive