Dozens of higher education institutions have appealed to the English regulator for permission to publish their accounts late, it can be revealed.
Providers must publish their audited financial statements on their website within two weeks of them being signed off by the required individuals and five months after the end of the financial year at the latest.
For institutions whose financial year ended in July, the deadline would have been the end of December – unless they had agreed an extension with the Office for Students (OfS).
According to a Freedom of Information request from Times Higher Education, a total of 25 higher education institutions applied to the OfS for extensions for the 2023-24 financial year by 22 January.
Institutions may apply for extensions to regulatory deadlines in exceptional circumstances only, according to OfS guidance.
Bob Rabone, former chair of the British Universities Finance Directors Group, told THE that this number of applications seemed to indicate a “large and worrying scale of issues”.
“It seems to me that this should be a matter of concern for OfS, and it would seem appropriate they should undertake further enquiries to see if there are common causes, which need to be addressed,” he said.
Rabone said it was becoming increasingly difficult to meet the task of preparing and approving the financial statements, and that each of the main four stages of the production of the financial statements can present reason for delay. These include the preparation of accounts, the preparation of the separate annual report, scheduling the audit of the statements, and getting the accounts approved.
Approval can take longer and require more consideration if there is a question over whether an institution is a going concern, if they involve major or difficult transactions, or where the financial disclosures are “onerous,” said Rabone.
“When in difficulty with bankers, the most reassuring thing can be a set of audited financial accounts for certainty, rather than the unknown.”
The identities of the 25 institutions that applied for extensions are not known but a large number of providers were yet to publish their accounts as of 21 February – including 10 members of Universities UK.
These are the University of Sussex, the University of Roehampton, Plymouth Marjon University, the University of Kent, Middlesex University, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Coventry University, Leeds Trinity University, the University of West London and the University of Essex.
Kent said it was still finalising its annual accounts, working to planned and pre-agreed timelines with the OfS.
UWL was granted an extension – but declined to say why – and expects to file its accounts by the end of February. Sussex was also granted an extension by the OfS and will file and publish its accounts in March.
Essex said it submitted its financial statements to the OfS well before the extended deadline and was now preparing to publish an accessible version on its website.
An OfS spokesperson said: “There are a number of reasons why institutions may apply for extensions and no general inferences should be made as to the causes.”
A number of other UUK members that are from outside of England and hence not subject to OfS deadlines are also yet to publish their accounts, including the University of Dundee and Bangor University.
Bangor said it has experienced delays in finishing its external audit and that its financial statements have not yet been finalised.
