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The University's financial settlement for 2010-11 from HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England) is 0.6% less than the grant for 2009-10.

The £48.6m HEFCE allocation, announced today (Thursday 18 March), is consistent with what the University had been expecting.

The Director of Finance, Allan Spencer, said: "It is of course unwelcome that the government has chosen to reduce funding for higher education. However, the University had already made plans for reductions in public funding. There are no surprises in this settlement."

The figure includes £30.9m for teaching, £16.2m for research and £1.5m from the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), which aims to encourage the practical application of academic know-how to business needs.

The change to the grant for Sussex is in line with other research-led institutions in the 1994 Group and Russell Group of institutions - reflecting reductions in the unit of resource for teaching set by HEFCE. 

The settlement, which makes up about 30% of the University's income as a whole, is confirmed only for the first nine months of the financial year 2010-11 (i.e. August 2010-April 2011). HEFCE is expected to make further reductions during the year of an additional 1% - so, for 2010-11 as a whole, Sussex expects to see reductions in funding of around 1.6%.

In its planning, the University has assumed at least a 10% reduction in public funding over three years, as significant cuts have already been announced for 2011-12 and 2012-13 (i.e. after the general election) following this initial reduction for 2010-11.

The Director of Finance said: "Sussex is in the same position as all universities, facing further reductions in future years, whichever party is in government."

Apart from HEFCE funding, the University also receives income from a number of other sources, including research councils; fees (which are capped by government) for home and EU students; fees from international students; research contracts with businesses; and trading activity (such as conferences, residences, sport, etc).

The research councils have themselves suffered grant reductions, and competition for their funds is expected to be greater in the future.

To help improve its financial position over future years, the University is seeking to increase income from other sources, including additional numbers of postgraduates and international students.

The Director of Finance said: "We need to continue to increase our income from sources beyond the public sector."