University sector expects more mergers in current financial climate

Nearly two-thirds of attendees polled at a Pinsent Masons webinar which looked at university mergers said they saw the growing trend in university mergers as a required response to the external challenges facing the higher education sector.

The remaining one-third of attendees said they regarded a merger between institutions as a strategic opportunity for growth.

These results come against a backdrop of economic challenges and funding cuts facing the higher education sector, which has seen an increasing number of high-profile institutional mergers in the last two years.

“Starting in 2024, we had the merger between Writtle University College and Angela Ruskin University, both higher education corporations, and that needed an order of the Secretary of State to dissolve Writtle in order to achieve that,” said universities expert Gayle Ditchburn of Pinsent Masons.

“What was really interesting as part of that was that Writtle University College went out and did a ‘beauty parade’ to see who could be its potential merger partners, with some of the suitors for Writtle being from the private sector and private equity."

“Later in 2024 we had AECC University College, which gained university title to become Health Sciences University in parallel with its merger with the University College of Osteopathy. Then we had the biggest of the three, which was the merger between City, University of London and St George's, University of London to create City St George’s, University of London.”

“So far in 2025 we've seen the University College of Estate Management, which again has gained university title and has been rebranded as the University of the Built Environment, in parallel with its merger with the London School of Architecture. And looking ahead, we have the proposed merger of University of Kent and University of Greenwich that is due to complete in in 2026,” she said.

Moves to limit the number of overseas students and increased pressure on universities over domestic student funding has led to changing attitudes in the sector, although those surveyed noted that mergers would still produce significant challenges in alignment between institutions and in securing staff support.

The current climate would likely lead to more merger talks between institutions behind the scenes, said Rachel Soundy of Pinsent Masons, as the full effects of these challenges begin to be felt.

“The drivers for more university mergers are in place, and we are expecting to see at least five more university mergers over the next two to three years,” she added.

“What we typically find is that a merger will take at least 12 months to come to fruition from signing heads of terms due to the complexity of these types of transactions and the number of approvals required,” Ditchburn added.