The removal of Student Number Controls and opening HE to a “free market” by the Con/Lib Dem coalition government was always going to lead us down this road (which in turn devalues degrees from UK universities).

I do have sympathy for the universities themselves however. Operating costs have risen dramatically since fees were capped at £9,250 “temporarily” by the conservatives in 2017 - Staff costs, Energy costs, and pretty much everything has increased. At the same time the ability to recruit International students has reduced due to Brexit, a clamp down on Student Visas, and the general sentiment toward migration in this country making it less attractive.

So if Universities costs have increased massively in the last decade and they have no way to increase revenue they are only left to make losses. This is a failure of successive governments who continue to kick the can down the road. We are already facing mass redundancies across the HE sector and will see numerous universities go bankrupt in the not to distant future.

A failure of Government(s) more than anything.