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Blairgowrie HE Intelligence  |  May 2026

The Franchise Cliff

Hidden financial risk in English higher education

A group of English universities has built a business model that would be unrecognisable to most people who think they understand how higher education works. Three confirmed regulatory events will force a reckoning before 2028. When they do, the providers most exposed will face acute income shocks with no time to adapt.

167,440 Students in subcontracted arrangements in 2024-25, up 56% since 2021-22
113,000 Taught by organisations invisible to the Office for Students
2028 Year the mandatory registration deadline and designation rules converge

What the report covers

The analysis draws on OfS published data, HESA statutory financial returns, Companies House filings, B3 student outcome data, the National Student Survey, Student Loans Company lending records, and UKVI data. Every figure is sourced. No claim is made that cannot be verified independently.

Key findings
01 Dependency ratios. At Canterbury Christ Church, Bath Spa, and University of Suffolk, franchise students now represent 73-77% of the total registered population. For these institutions, franchise income is not a supplement to core business. It is the core business.
02 One company at the centre. Global Banking School accounts for 71% of all students subcontracted into OfS-registered delivery partners, with estimated annual revenue of £300 million. Five universities depend on it for the majority of their tuition fee income.
03 Lender exposure undisclosed. No lender to any provider in this analysis has, based on publicly accessible documents, received a disclosure indicating that franchise income represents a material and concentrated risk to the borrower's revenue base. Leeds Trinity's 2025 covenant breach is the first instance of this mechanism operating in practice. It will not be the last.
04 £2 billion in public loans. Student Loans Company data shows £2.0 billion in maintenance and tuition fee loans disbursed to students at six franchise-heavy institutions in 2023-24, up from £450 million five years earlier. Average maintenance loans at these institutions run 28-40% above the sector average.
05 The student in the middle. At GBS and Leeds Trinity, more than three in four students come from the two most deprived quintiles of areas in England. Progression to graduate employment runs at 41.8% against a 54.2% benchmark. NSS 2025 data shows student experience scores systematically below sector norms at franchise-heavy providers.
06 No credible continuity plans. Student protection plans at institutions with the highest franchise dependency have been relabelled but not rewritten. None references Condition E10. None states absorption capacity. Consumer law obligations on universities as service providers to these students remain unaddressed.
Seven datasets. One framework. The information needed to understand this risk is public. The problem is that it exists in separate places, published by separate bodies for separate purposes, and almost always read in isolation. This report is what happens when you read all of them at once.
Open access

Download the full analysis

Seven datasets cross-referenced into a single framework. 48 pages. Every figure sourced from primary data and independently verifiable.

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What does this mean for your institution?

This report describes the sector. It does not describe your institution. Whether this risk is material to your planning position depends on your specific franchise exposure, lender covenants, and regulatory timeline. The institution-specific analysis is a different conversation — and one we are available to have.
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