BUSINESS REVIEW
O P E R AT I N G R E V I E W The University has continued to improve its performance through a year that has seen uncertainty and apprehension within the higher education sector and in the wider national and international economies. During the year the University retained its focus on improving its core activities of delivering excellent research and an outstanding student experience within a financially sustainable business model. The growth of the University continued unabated during the year with Dun and Bradstreet reporting the University as the 23rd fastest growing organisation in the United Kingdom and the 62nd across Europe in the period since 2007. The University’s total income has grown by 50% since 2007 and staff numbers have risen from 2,500 to over 3,000 with staff recruitment still ongoing. Capital investment on the campuses will have led to around £372 million of new infrastructure since 2006, including £176 million invested by partnering with University Partnership Programme and INTO University Partnerships Limited. Net assets have increased from £414 million in July 2007 to £473 million this year. The University will continue to grow over the coming years with additional income and continued investment in infrastructure to deliver enhancements to the student experience and continued development of excellent world leading research. The change in the policy environment of the higher education sector has provided an uncertain backdrop for the year to 31 July 2011. These policy changes now have greater clarity following the publication by the Government of the White Paper “Students at the Heart of the System” and several associated consultation documents. The University has paid close attention to Government and other regulators’ pronouncements on these. Our analysis is that the proposed changes will strengthen the University and provide new opportunities to improve our research and educational activities. The regulatory changes will also bring some challenges which will need to be resolved, most notably in relation to our agenda to widen participation and access to higher education for excellent students from lower socio economic groups. Overall, despite this potential issue, the University believes it is well placed to benefit from the changes.
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UNIVERSITY OF EXETER:
Even with this uncertainty, in the year the University has continued to drive forward with its core agenda of enhancing its educational and research capabilities. Notwithstanding the ongoing major capital infrastructure works at our Exeter and Cornwall campuses the University has maintained its achievement of always finishing as a top 10 University in the National Student Survey. The University is grateful for the hard work of its entire staff in mitigating the impact of this huge capital investment on our students and we are grateful for the forbearance of our students during this period of significant investment. The majority of the University’s capital programme will end in the summer of 2012. The £18.6 million Business School extension work; the delivery of the £43.3 million INTO University of Exeter teaching and residential buildings; the £24.9 million refurbishment of the Biosciences Geoffrey Pope building; and the delivery of the first £87 million stage of student residential buildings via University Partnership Programme, were all concluded in 2010/11. These improvements, and the University’s historic drive for academic excellence in its mission, led to a further increase in the student entry tariff for the academic year commencing in September 2010 of 5% to 459. The University continued to be one of the most popular universities in the United Kingdom with some six applications per place in 2010/11. We are especially pleased with the increased employability of our students in these difficult economic times: 73% of our students are now in graduate level employment or training six months after graduation, a 3% improvement on last year despite the tough economic conditions. It is not surprising given these improvements that the University remains a leader in student academic attainment and with some of the lowest student drop-out rates in the higher education sector. Research has continued to thrive and grow at the University over the year, research income having increased by £8.6 million to £46.3 million; £64.9 million if the Funding Council research funding is included. The University is continuing its investment in Science research with an approved investment of £18 million through the Science and Research and Knowledge Transfer Strategies, of which £3.6 million was undertaken this year.
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