Already 67 higher education institutions are undertaking redundancy and restructuring programmes. This number is expected to rise as softening demand from international students and high debt servicing costs risks put the sector under even more pressure.

Phillipson has said the government will not step in to prevent insolvencies and refused to commit to raising tuition fees for domestic students, which have, in effect, been frozen for more than a decade, despite pressure from the sector lobby group Universities UK.

UK universities regulator plans for looming insolvencies - Financial Times