UK universities are being killed

Britain’s universities are facing a growing crisis. About one in five of them is now considered at financial risk. Courses are being cut, staff are losing their jobs, and some university towns could face serious economic damage if institutions fail.

But this crisis is not an accident.

In this video, I argue that the problems facing universities are the predictable result of government policy. For well over a decade, education has been treated as a market. Students have been turned into consumers, universities have been turned into businesses, and educational purpose has been subordinated to financial targets.

The consequences reach far beyond university finances. I explain how critical thinking has been squeezed out of education, why testing now dominates learning, and why many students arrive at university without the communication and analytical skills they need.

I also explore how universities became dependent on expansion, overseas student recruitment, and increasingly fragile business models, leaving many institutions vulnerable when conditions changed, as they have with the introduction of new immigration policies.

Most importantly, I ask what education should actually be for. I suggest an alternative based on three principles: curiosity, communication and community.

If universities matter to our economy, our democracy and our communities, then the current crisis should concern us all.

What do you think? Is higher education failing because universities have changed, or because politicians changed the purpose of education itself? Leave your views in the comments below.