SOME of England’s top universities were today left facing effective funding cuts after receiving grant increases below the rate of inflation – but the University of Huddersfield has bucked the trend in a massive way.
The university has had a whopping 41% increase in its research budget – an increase of £1m, bringing it up to £2.7m.
And its teaching budget has gone up 4.2% – well over the 2.7% inflation rate – to just over 58.5m.
Cambridge, Manchester University, University College London (UCL) and Imperial College, London, were among those who lost out in this way.
In total, almost £8bn was allocated to universities and colleges by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
The 2009-10 figure is an overall increase of 4% on last year.
This included £4.8bn allocated for teaching and £1.5bn for research.
Prof Bob Cryan, vice-chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, said: “Naturally we are absolutely delighted, especially as so many other universities have seen their grants reduced.
“The reason we have had such a big increase in the research grant was that we went through a major assessment last year. As a result of that our research was classed as world-leading in a number of areas.
“The increase in the grants is wonderful news for this university.”
HEFCE chief executive Prof David Eastwood said: “This represents a good settlement for universities and colleges.
“It also represents a crucial investment in developing people and ideas and provides a major step in helping the country through and beyond the current recession.
“Although this settlement provides universities and colleges with resources to help weather the economic downturn, they still face longer-term, difficult challenges and will need to plan prudently.”
