New report calls for practical reform in higher education shared services

New recommendations, published today, outline opportunities for smarter collaboration across the UK higher education (HE) sector, drawing on the long history of successful shared services that play a vital role in securing improved user experience and significant university cost savings through greater efficiency.

The report, developed under the UUK Transformation and Efficiency Taskforce, calls on universities to make best use of existing, underutilised shared services to fully support entrepreneurial, locally driven initiatives and encourage nationwide growth.

It highlights that while shared services like UCAS and Jisc’s Janet Network are used right across UK HE, most others remain underutilised due to lack of awareness, funding, and strategic coordination.

Key Findings:

• Existing services are thriving but underused - many serve only a fraction of the sector despite proven value
• Growth is hampered by a lack of awareness of shared services products, limited funding and policy blockers, for example, under current UK VAT policy, cost-sharing groups must operate on a non-profit basis and can only recover direct costs, restricting reinvestment needed for growth
• Sector networks like UUK, the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG), and the Association of Heads of University Administration (AHUA) are urged to use their convening power to create a culture of collaboration for the mutual benefit of the sector, as has been previously achieved with successful examples of collaboration like jobs.ac.uk
• The sector should create the conditions for success by encouraging new opportunities with strong business cases, and back these with appropriate startup funding

Recommendations:

• Create a central catalogue of all HE shared services, owned and operated by the sector, to increase awareness of existing services, improve visibility and uptake
• Convene groups of actively committed institutions so that shared services benefit from network effects – the more institutions that are involved, the more successful the outcome will be
• Encourage a ‘shared services first’ mindset among institutions before opting for in-house or commercial solutions, reviewing the long-term benefits rather than short-term
• Support regional mergers and strategic transfers of shared services to national bodies, reducing duplication to support long-term sustainability
• The government should implement one of BUFDG's proposed improvements to VAT Cost Sharing Groups, creating opportunities for shared services in new areas of activity

The report also outlines four operational models for shared services:

1. One university offers services to several other universities
2. Universities co-operate through an unincorporated association with no legal entity
3. A non-profit sector organisation offers services to universities
4. A group of universities collectively contract with a commercial third-party for services

Timely intervention

With costs rising and resources having declined year on year, UK HE is facing unprecedented financial strain. The UUK Taskforce was established to support the sector to move beyond institutional efficiencies and create real change through partnership and collaboration – and shared services offer a strategic lifeline. But creating real change depends on trust, coordination, and a shift in mindset.

Sir Nigel Carrington, chair of the UUK Transformation and Efficiency Taskforce said:

“Huge amounts of work have already taken place across the higher education sector to make savings and generate efficiencies, but it is a new era of partnership working which will be truly transformative. This important report sets out a clear and compelling case for the potential of shared services, and the possibilities these create to unlock the greatest savings.”

Heidi Fraser-Krauss, chief executive officer, Jisc, comments:

“This report offers an important reminder that collaboration in UK higher education is not just a strategic choice, but a necessity.

“The sector already benefits from a rich ecosystem of shared services that delivers real value, and this report outlines practical and sensible steps that would allow these success stories to flourish and achieve impact at scale.

"First and foremost, all of us across the sector need to work with existing shared services to develop and invest in robust, scalable and sustainable models for the future. Adopting this mindset is another way we can collectively unlock efficiencies and build resilience."

Download the full report on opportunities for efficiency through shared services (pdf).