Higher education in the UK is renowned for its academic rigour and research-led learning, but many universities are facing intense pressure to strengthen financial sustainability.
Modernising the technology that underpins core systems can support efficiency improvements, releasing resources for higher-value activities such as teaching, research and the student experience. However, improvements are only realised if technology genuinely streamlines and simplifies processes.
Achieving this requires a rethink of how operations are structured and delivered, alongside careful consideration of impacts on the people expected to work differently. Done well, it can help universities strengthen institutional resilience while continuing to support academic excellence.
Balancing efficiency with academic priorities
University leaders are having to improve efficiency while responding to rising expectations around digital services, as well as intense competition for students, talent and research funding. Navigating these issues with legacy systems and processes not designed for today’s operating environment is no mean feat.
At the same time, while many higher education providers have implemented cost-cutting measures, the Office for Students (OfS) warns that focusing too heavily on short-term pressures can delay the structural changes needed for long-term financial sustainability. So, the challenge facing university leaders is not to simply identify further savings but to find and sustain deeper operational improvements.
The OfS 2026 report on the financial sustainability of higher education providers in England specifically highlights concerns about ageing and fragmented systems creating inefficiencies. Meanwhile Jisc, the UK’s digital body for higher education, warns that technical legacy has accumulated across the sector through process complexity, customisation and uneven investment.
The need for modernisation is clear, but conventional approaches can’t always be applied to the higher education sector. Operational change in universities must reflect the fact that different disciplines, faculties and research environments have varied needs.
Protecting the academic autonomy that supports research excellence and innovation is a priority. However, it’s important to distinguish between variation that creates genuine value and that which simply adds operational complexity. Unnecessary variation can lead to duplication, drive up costs and make it harder to deliver consistent experiences or realise value from technology investment. And every pound tied up in inefficient processes, duplicated activity or manual administration is a pound that cannot be invested in students, academics or research.
Making technology work for the people who use it
Many universities are investing in ERP systems, automation, digital services and data and analytics platforms to improve efficiency and support better decision making. But the benefits of these investments are not immediate or automatic. Inconsistent ways of working, duplicate processes, fragmented governance and low adoption can limit the value that is achieved.
Using shared approaches across core functions such as finance, HR, IT and procurement can reduce duplication and improve consistency, without requiring every part of a university to operate in the same way. However, care must be taken to ensure changes align with overall institutional strategy, faculty needs and the way professional services operate.
So, replacing ageing systems is only part of the answer. If existing work practices are carried over unchanged, new technology may simply reproduce the complexity and inefficiency it was meant to remove. Avoiding this requires clarity on where processes, services or infrastructure can be aligned before the systems or tools that will support them are selected and implemented.
Success also depends on buy-in from the people expected to deliver and adopt the change. New systems and processes will only deliver the intended benefits if people understand the changes, feel confident working differently and are supported through the transition. Engagement, communication, training and capability-building should be integral.
Technological change must be practical and workable too. Major programmes need to run alongside day-to-day operations, while change readiness and digital capabilities may vary across faculties and functions. Understanding priorities and dependencies – and involving the people who will use the new systems – is essential if technology investment is to translate into sustained improvement.
Creating capacity for long-term resilience
Cost reduction is just one aspect of operational modernisation; the wider goal is to deliver value.
Making better use of technology can improve data consistency and accessibility, supporting more informed leadership decision-making. It can also reduce the administrative burden associated with fragmented ways of working, freeing up staff time for activities that support other priorities at a faculty or functional level.
This is especially significant in the higher education sector, where financial sustainability and academic success are closely connected. Stronger operational foundations can enable universities to respond more effectively to changing demands while continuing to invest in the teaching, research, and student experience that underpin their reputation and competitiveness.
Handled strategically, efficiency becomes a means of strengthening institutional resilience. And this requires an understanding of where greater consistency will add value, where collaboration makes sense, and where autonomy needs to be protected.
What university leaders need to consider
Transformation is not an isolated response to financial pressure; it’s an ongoing discipline. Operating models, systems and ways of working will continue to evolve as expectations around digital services, data, AI and student experience change. To ensure long-term resilience, it’s important to create organisational capacity for continual review and adaptation.
The challenge for university leaders is gathering the right information to make deliberate, well-informed choices. That includes understanding how people will be equipped for new ways of working. There are three critical factors to keep front of mind:
- Financial sustainability requires better decisions, not just bigger technology investments
- Operational modernisation depends on aligning strategy, people, delivery and adoption
- Technology enables change, but organisational alignment determines whether value is realised
To establish a clear view of what is best for their own university, leaders need to ask: Where is variation genuinely necessary? Which processes or services could be simplified or shared? What needs to change for the technology to succeed? And do we have the capacity to deliver the change alongside day-to-day operations?
The answers, and the priorities, will vary between institutions.
The director of planning at Queen Mary University of London has discussed work to bring fragmented attendance and assessment data into a more consistent format. Student dropouts are reported to have fallen by around 1.5 percentage points a year over five years, with the university highlighting the value of learning analytics in supporting student retention. Meanwhile the University of Exeter’s PS Connect is an example of broader shared-services transformation to make the best use of resources across HR, finance, IT and strategic procurement.
These examples illustrate different approaches to the same underlying challenges around fragmentation, duplication and inconsistency.
Universities do not need to standardise their academic mission. But to maintain reputation and differentiation in today’s environment, it is increasingly important to simplify and align the operational foundations that support it.
With the right measures in place, financial sustainability and academic excellence can thrive together. Get in touch to find out how we can help you strike an effective balance.