22 October 2025 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
BUFDGET
Along with many other organisations, BUFDG has made a submission to the Treasury in advance of the Budget on 26 November. Members can view it via this link. Here are other sector submissions from Universities UK, University Alliance, and the Russell Group.
BDO are running a webinar with their experts the morning after, with in-depth analysis of how tax changes will effect individuals and different sectors. Likewise, PwC have their own reactions webcast. KPMG have gone for a ‘live reactions’ broadcast on 26th at 4pm, with a ‘deep dive’ follow-up on Friday 28th.
In case you missed it last time out, we’ve made a couple of low-key changes here at BUFDG. Firstly, our name is now just BUFDG (not the British Universities Finance Directors Group) which we've been quietly moving to over the past year. Secondly, we're 'retiring' the HEPA brand and bringing all our procurement work and support under the BUFDG banner (HEPA is not a separate legal entity from BUFDG - it is a name and branding attached to a BUFDG working group). Nothing should change except the name, and you can find out more about this change here.
SECTOR
The big news this week is the launch of the government’s long-awaited White Paper on post-16 education. The full document can be downloaded from the government website here. Much of the paper focuses on FE and joining up skills and employment, but there’s an excellent summary from the team at Wonkhe on the HE elements.
There’s (some) clarity around proposed increases to tuition fees, and focus on quality of provision, as well as sector collaboration (or will that just be more competition?). As the Wonkhe article points out, there’s no defined timescales for consultation or legislation, so any actual implementation could end up looking somewhat different. However, further mentions of a reintroduction of targeted maintenance grants tied to a levy on international students suggest that some things could be considered ‘locked in’ by now. Any mention of a new regime for provider market exit is notably absent.
In other news coverage, both the Guardian and the BBC lead with the fee increase, with a broader take from the sector including UUK and supporters like BDO.
In other news, CUC has issued a call for evidence as part of the refreshing of the Code of Governance, while there are two significant reports published – the first by Parkwalk Advisors notes a recovery in equity investment in university spinout companies, the second a MillionPlus report looking at the local impact of modern universities, where almost half of all graduates stay in the home region, compared to just a quarter of pre-92s.
WALES
The Welsh government have published a draft budget, with a more detailed draft to be published on 3 November 2025. The final Budget will be published on 20 January 2026 and debated on 27 January 2026. There has also been government confirmation that the International Student Levy will not be applied in Wales.
Universities Wales has published its ‘election manifesto’ in advance of the 2026 Senedd elections. Among other things it calls for a fundamental review of university funding and student support to ensure the sustainability of the sector, as well as ‘strategic regional investment funding’.
The Local Growth Fund for Wales will launch in April 2026, to provide £500m over three years for regional economic development. A consultation is expected shortly.
SCOTLAND
The Scottish Government will publish the 2026-27 Scottish Budget and associated documents on Tuesday 13 January 2026.
ENGLAND
The OfS has requested an interim financial return with the deadline of 13 November. Information on what needs to be included is on the OfS website, and in the letter to your institution.
There’s a challenging article from Jim Dickinson on Wonkhe on franchising arrangements in the English HE sector. It’s based on the outcomes data that was recently published by the OfS, who are also asked to tighten regulation as part of this week’s White Paper.
NI
The Department for the Economy has set out legislation to increase the basic and higher student fee amounts by 2.7%. The changes will see the higher amount increase to £4,985, and will come into operation on 1 September 2026.
Stranmillis and St Mary’s University Colleges will both receive an extra £400k next year in direct government funding in ‘recognition of their small and specialist nature’.
MA / TRAC
The next Introduction to TRAC course takes place from the 3 November. The course take place online over a number of weeks to allow delegates to apply their learning to their own role, and work through any queries with the facilitator.
The Management Accountants’ Summit takes place on the 19, 20, 25 and 26 November. You can see details of the sessions being included in the event link - the programme is looking quite jam packed and the full schedule will be available shortly. The sessions have wider relevance, and we welcome all our members, not just Management Accountants and Business Partners. Remember there’s a discount for multiple delegates from the same HEP.
The Policy Institute at King's College London is putting on a webinar with an excellent panel of speakers on 11th November to discuss TRAC "[D]rawing on a new report by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, this discussion – hosted in partnership with the Higher Education Policy Institute – will explain TRAC data, what it is telling us, and its value and limitations in helping policymakers and institutional leaders to manage higher education towards a more sustainable future."
TAX AND PAYROLL
UUKi has issued its latest report on the scale of TNE in the UK (for 23/24). This is well worth a read if you oversee distance/online e-learning and tax issues, to see the trends. Andrea will be doing a read across to the Making Education Digital spreadsheet and making sure that any countries with more than 1000 UK online learning students are included. It was closely timed with the Prime Minister’s trip with V-Cs to visit India.
There is limited guidance for the sector on the VAT liability of placement fees - especially with regard to how they are exempt as examination fees. If you have any specific instances where the treatment is not clear, please add a comment to this discussion thread.
A reminder that there’s a brand new tax course as part of our burgeoning E-learning suite. Export principles for HE covers the basic rules and considerations for the export of goods from the UK whether those goods are sold, loaned, donated or sent free of charge.
PROCUREMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
We are hosting a Chatham House session for universities who are a Contracting Authority to hear from a panel of universities who are not. The event will take place on Tuesday 18 November via Teams. The round-table will consider opportunities, risks and key considerations and then open up for a Q&A. Members can register for their place via the website here.
The new Jisc digital certificate framework is now live and ready for members to buy certificates. The new service will operate as a single-supplier procurement framework, meaning you can purchase certificates directly from DigiCert under terms negotiated by Jisc. To support the purchasing process, Jisc have created a buyer’s guide that explains how the framework works, how to set up your account, and the steps to purchase certificates. If you have any questions use this Jisc address.
The Responsible Procurement Group - GHG measurement & Reporting - HESCET development sub-group has released an updated version of the Higher Education Supply Chain Emissions Tool (HESCET). The tool can be downloaded from the website here, along with the accompanying notes.
Guidance for UK17 Payments Compliance Notice Data Requirements has recently been developed and added to the Government Commercial College (GDC).
Namos Solutions are running a webinar on 18 November looking at Cloud Transformation in HE with case studies from the University of Greenwich, University of Salford and Imperial College London.
COUNTER-FRAUD
We will be hosting a BUFDG Counter Fraud Forum for members, which will take place online via Teams on 11 November. It is open to all BUFDG members to discuss current trends, share best practice and network with colleagues working in the counter-fraud space across the sector. Should you wish to take part in the discussion, please do sign up for your place on the website here.
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Anyone who missed the Research Finance Forum on Wednesday 15 October can watch recordings of UKRI presentations on financial sustainability and funding assurance redesign. A recording of a round table on the task management and post award functionality of Worktribe held on Friday 17 October is also available.
FINANCIAL REPORTING / SORP
Following the 'in principle' technical approval of the FEHE SORP and all additional guidance by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in August, the final process of licensing the finalised documents with the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) is progressing. It is now expected that Universities UK, on behalf of the FEHE SORP Board, will be in a position to publish the FEHE SORP on or around 31 October, along with additional guidance issued by BUFDG on behalf of the Financial Reporting Group (FRG).
In the meantime, a reminder that BUFDG members can attend the next SORP Implementation Forum on 11 November, and find notes from previous forums on our website.
For those considering lease management requirements for the implementation of the new SORP, a showcase of software and Excel solutions will take place on Tuesday 18 November, 3-4.30pm (online) with demonstrations from KPMG, FinQuery, Iris Innervision, Trullion, and MRI.
Harriet Latham from Big for Tax is hosting a Time to Talk on Tuesday 16 December, 10.30am to midday (online), exploring the tax implications of the new FEHE SORP and helping those working in tax or accounting roles understand and prepare for the changes.
Any enquiries relating to the publication or implementation of the SORP can be directed to Joni.
SUSTAINABILITY / ESTATES
The datasets and pathways underlying the Cost of Net Zero Calculator Tool (v4) are now outdated in light of updates to the UK Climate Change Committee’s ‘7th Carbon Budget’ and the National Energy System Operator’s ‘Future Energy Scenarios 2025’, both published in summer 2025. Neither of these publications radically alters the analysis of future trajectories, although multiple assumptions and datapoints have been tweaked throughout.
The existing tool can still be used to project high-level decarbonisation trajectories and cost estimations from 2022 and onwards, using 2021 emissions data as a baseline. It will remain available for download until summer 2026. However, no future updates to the underlying figures are planned, and technical support from Energise has ceased.
INVESTMENT
The Cambridge-led Banking Engagement Forum has selected Amundi Investment Solutions to manage the Quasi-Money Market Fund, a cash fund that excludes companies contributing to fossil fuel expansion globally.
JOB OF THE FORTNIGHT
Our Job of the Fortnight is for a Deputy Director of Finance at Canterbury Christ Church University. The successful candidate will be “a strategic and engaging financial leader with a track record of having established strong and supportive relationships with key business stakeholders”, as well as “a strong commitment and appetite for continuous improvement, enhancements in technology and delivering best value from investment”. The deadline for applications is 2 November.
As usual, there are lots of other vacancies listed on the BUFDG jobs page.
