University finances at a glance 24/25
01 Dec 2025
An overview of our Financial Statements for 24/25
Summary of key financial results
As we embark on the delivery of our new strategy, building upon and improving our financial position will enable the bold ambitions we have set ourselves for the next decade, to be a great civic university for the 21st century.
Despite ongoing challenges in the sector, we achieved good financial performance in the 12 months to 31 July 2025 and delivered an adjusted operating surplus of £84.4 million. The 24/25 surplus was up £42.8 million from last year.
The 24/25 increase in surplus reflects the efforts across our organisation to spend our money wisely. Prior to this, our expenditure had been growing at a faster rate than our income, a trend we needed to address for our long-term financial sustainability.
As an exempt charity, the University operates on a not-for-profit basis and reinvests all surpluses in activities that align with our values and strategy.
The continued demand for student places at Manchester, combined with excellence in world leading research led to an increase in total income for 2024/25 to over £1.4 billion, up £57.1 million from 2023/24. This growth was due to changes across income streams; tuition fee income grew by £49.3 million, and we had a continued uplift to our research funding of £15.5 million. These were partially offset by decreases in investment income of £3.0 million and from other sources of £4.5 million.
Total expenditure for 24/25 of £1,337.5 million has increased by £14.3 million or 1.1%, excluding the one-off credit of £299.2 million in 23/24 for changes to the USS pension scheme deficit reduction plan. Last year, our expenditure was outpacing our income growth, and so these results represent a deliberate focus on the importance of maintaining financial discipline and improving our financial position to enable our ambitions and ensure that increased spending translates into long term benefits for the University.
We are in a solid financial position, but we are not exempt from the continued financial pressures and challenges facing the UK Higher Education sector, the recently announced international student levy among them.
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor, said: “As I reflect on the past year, there is much from our community to be proud of. Launching our ambitious strategy for the next decade was a display of our collective will to make things better, to focus on what really matters and go further and faster towards being a great civic university of the 21st Century. So too the launch of our first ever major fundraising and volunteering campaign, which will be important for our future as well.
Despite challenges across the sector – to which we remain exposed - we continue to hit significant milestones in teaching, research, innovation and social responsibility because of the significant effort and dedication of colleagues.
As we turn to implementing our new strategy, I’d like to extend my warmest thanks to everyone - colleagues, students, alumni, partners and wider community - for your support and commitment.”
Where our money comes from
Tuition fees represent 54% (£763.6 million) of our total annual income (£1.4 billion).
Of this, 36% are from UK students, and 64% are from international student fees.
In 2024/25, UK undergraduate fees continued at £9,250, which reflected a continued decline in real terms as inflation increases the costs of teaching delivery. However, from 2025/26, domestic tuition fees will be linked to inflation, which is a welcome policy change from the government.
Our other main source of income is research income, which has demonstrated significant growth over the past year. Income from this stream increased by £15.5m, representing a rise of 5.4% compared to the previous year. As a result, total research income reached £303.3m.
In terms of funding sources, the Research Council remains our principal funder, consistent with the previous year. However, the most notable increase this year has come from UK central government, hospitals, and health authorities, where income has grown by £8.9m, marking a substantial rise of 17.9%.
Income from funding bodies totalled £150.9m, which remains in line with the previous year’s figure.
Although there have been reductions in recurrent funding from Research England and specific initiatives grants, these shortfalls have been balanced by the receipt of the Office for Students capital grant and other recurrent grants.
Donations and endowments are an increasingly important aspect of our income. Almost everything we need to do over the next 10 years will require us to become a great philanthropic organisation. Our fundraising and volunteering campaign, Challenge Accepted, will help us deliver the margin of excellence that will allow us to provide more support and opportunity for our students, and deliver greater impact in research and innovation.
Where we spend our money
The largest proportion of our income is spent on salary and associated costs, accounting for 55% of total expenditure (£736 million annually, or £61 million per month).
This investment underpins the delivery of our core goals and reflects our commitment to attracting and retaining talented staff. Staff costs have continued to rise, driven by factors such as an increase in average full-time equivalent posts, inflationary pay awards, automatic pay increments, and changes to Employers’ National Insurance rates.
While these increases were partially offset by a reduction in pension costs linked to lower USS pension scheme contribution rates, further investment was made in new posts. As a result, staff costs now represent 51.7% of income, compared to 50.7% in 2023/24.
Other operating expenditure at the University fell by £16.1 million. Academic and related spending rose £6.8 million due to increased student support, while costs for residences, catering, and conferences also went up because of higher lease expenses. These increases were offset by reduced premises costs, mainly from prior costs linked to exiting the north campus and demolishing Faraday Tower.
Investing in and supporting the student experience
We have invested £8.8 million into the Fallowfield Campus Redevelopment Project, which aims to replace the existing accommodations with up to 3,300 state-of-the-art bed spaces—an increase of as many as 950 beds. A further £2.7 million was spent on capital improvements across halls of residence.
Other key investments include:
- £5.1 million on delivering high-quality blended and flexible learning experiences;
- £4.2 million on enhancing the student experience, providing greater flexibility and personalised services;
- £3.1 million grant given to the Students’ Union (increase of £0.1m from 2023/24);
- £1.9 million investment in new teaching capacity and new course development in Humanities.
From Manchester, for the world
Our new University strategy outlines the foundation building activities necessary and the ambitious leaps that we will make to become a great civic university of the 21st century. Finances are a key underpinning of this strategy and we are committed to the following:
- Funding that brings together our investments in the foundations of our digital and physical campus (the first time these have been brought together).
- Funding designed to support the leaps described in our strategy.