Summary: A strong focus on operational excellence and collaboration between finance and admissions will be needed to lead the UK higher ed sector to a sound financial future. Leaders discussed it all at the recent International Insights Summit.
Improvements in governance protected the higher education sector in the UK through the whirlwind of COVID and visa policy changes. Now, operational excellence will determine who secures the future. Given the increasing pressure universities are coming under, bold action is needed—now—to ensure financial stability in the years to come.
It was with this sense of urgency that nearly 100 higher education admissions, finance and international recruitment professionals convened at Flywire’s International Insights Summit, held in Birmingham (UK) last week. With remarkable resilience, the UK higher education sector has weathered some significant storms in recent years.
With the OfS forecasting that up to 72% of the UK’s higher education providers could be in deficit by the end of the 2025-26 academic year, the pressure to act is mounting. Leaders gathered at the summit are ready. Here are three takeaways from the Summit.
1. Finance must step up to be change leader & drive financial stability
Kicking off the day’s panel discussions, Peter Vermeulen (CFO of the University of Bristol) called for his peers to act as leaders, rather than accountants, and to drive much needed change in the sector. As one of the only teams to work with all departments, he explained, Finance was in a unique position, not only to see what is or should be happening across the university, but also to bring teams together.
Advocating for more “big plays” within university plans, Vermeulen urged a focus on creating financial headroom to fund necessary investments, moving away from the pursuit of perfectly balanced budgets. Jamie Warner (Head of Financial Operations at Goldsmiths, University of London) was of a similar opinion, saying institutions needed to strike a balance between making immediate, reactive, cost-savings and taking steps to “re-engineer the system to be sustainable for the future”, at the same time as fixing culture and controls to prevent stripped costs from creeping back in.
2. Real-time data intelligence will supercharge strategic decision making
There’s no doubt that the HE sector understands the importance of data intelligence for strategic planning and decision-making. Data intelligence is one of three critical competencies identified in the newly released findings of Flywire’s recent Admissions Navigator research. But, the same research showed that all three—data intelligence, the applicant journey and operational excellence—were also the areas rated the lowest for institutions, reinforcing each other in a negative spiral.
University of Bristol’s Vermeulen pre-empted this finding, with his comment that the sector’s tendency to procrastinate is being fueled by a desire for perfect data on which to base decisions.
The data intelligence hurdle is two-fold: external sources are often 6-12 months out of date, and internally, departmental silos prevent data from being collected consistently or shared among the teams that need it most. However, Flywire’s Emma Haley demonstrated how this hurdle can be overcome. Payment data collected by Flywire, and available in client dashboards, provides crucial intel into international student trends, payment behaviours, and the impact of policy decisions in real time. This capability gives institutions the ability to pivot and react quickly, moving past the procrastination fueled by “the desire for perfect data”.
Oxford Brookes University’s Director of International Recruitment, Francis Glover, commented that “being able to follow the money is really powerful.” This financial clarity is non-negotiable for institutions looking to de-risk their international strategy. For him the starkest reminder was about the value of core markets to universities. He went on to say that having access to it would help international teams drive conversations about how to maximise those markets, in addition to identifying new financially-viable source markets.
3. Uniting departments & systems is key to becoming 'future ready'
All too often the financial stability of a university is considered solely the finance team’s responsibility. But, the summit speakers were clear: increased pressure from a challenging environment, that is only getting harder because of rising costs, tougher competition, increasing compliance requirements, and more, means success is now “an everyone problem,” requiring shared accountability; a message that must come from the top.
According to the Admissions Navigator findings, delivered by Flywire’s Oliver Mussett, future-readiness will depend on having:
Lean, automated processes & a culture that delivers fast, scalable, user-friendly admissions.
Real-time data capability, predictive insights and digital foundations that support smarter decision-making.
Digital-first, personalised application experiences that support today’s students from their first click to enrolment.
Achieving this will require collaboration both internally, across departments, and externally with partners such as agents, as well as integration between key systems: the SIS, accommodation system and payments networks. If siloed working continues, universities’ risk exposure will increase and leave their future hanging in the balance.
Everyone in the room agreed the sector can no longer continue to be, as Warner put it, “a frog in boiling water.” The commitment to transformation was clear. The urgency for action was the defining takeaway, underpinned by two powerful insights: Jamie Warner, quoting Churchill, urged the room to “not waste this crisis, but use it to get people to make big decisions.” Co-panelist Peter Vermeulen stressed that “making a good enough decision today is far more impactful than making a better decision tomorrow”. And, to quote one Admissions Navigator roundtable participant, the sector has “poured millions into buildings and branding. Now [they] need to invest in the systems and processes that make it all work.”
Now is the time for investment in the time for bold, operational action is now.