The University of Leeds has reported that its total income grew 6% to £985 million in in the year to July 31, 2023.
The university said tuition fee income grew by 1% to £507 million “but underlying tuition fee income growth was 9%, taking into account the deferred income benefit in 2021/22 of the January 2021 postgraduate cohort (£33m), primarily the result of further increases in international student numbers.”
Research income rose from £177 million in 2021-22 to £185 million in 2022-23.
Funding council grant income increased by 12% to £107 million.
Total expenditure was £942 million.
University of Leeds chief financial officer Jane Madeley wrote: “Despite the significant economic and inflationary pressures that we were facing early in 2022/23, we end the year in a more favourable financial position than we anticipated at the start.
“The high utility prices we had planned for eased sooner than we had expected which, combined with higher interest rates for our cash and short-term investments and a significant philanthropic donation, meant that we could protect our critical strategic investment plans as intended, as well as delivering a £43m underlying operating surplus (2021/22: £60m) before movement in the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) provision …
“We are still feeling the impacts of the energy crisis and the global upheavals caused by the war in Ukraine.
“Inflation remained in double digits and, whilst we saw a softening of energy prices, they remained high during the year.
“These wider economic pressures were reflected in our total expenditure of £942m (excluding the USS provision movement).
“Overall expenditure was 8% higher than in 2021/22 and reflected a further step up in strategic investment and increased staff recruitment …
“Funding council grant income increased by 12% to £107m. This includes an increase in quality-related (QR) funding which reflects both our strong research power performance and a general uplift in QR funding from government …”