University of Exeter students

New report confirms South West Universities huge contribution to revenue, jobs and growth in the region

A new report from Universities UK (UUK) has, for the first time, quantified the economic benefit generated by the region’s 12 Universities. Using cutting edge, more accurate modelling tools, the total revenue of South West higher education institutions was an enormous £1.7 billion in 2011-12. Universities also provided 20,522 full-time equivalent jobs across a range of occupations.

In total, when added together with the expenditure of the international students and students from the rest of the UK who came to study in the South West, the Universities generated 51,780 jobs in the region.

The University of Exeter alone contributes almost £600 million to the region; and another study by independent economic analysts, Oxford Economics, recently confirmed that the University of Exeter (UoE) and Falmouth University (Falmouth), who share and jointly manage the Penryn Campus, have contributed £491 million to the economy of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly between 2002 and 2012.

Geoff Pringle, Chief Operating Officer at the University of Exeter commented: “Recent studies in the UK have highlighted the importance of higher education to the national economy but it has been difficult to quantify the impact regionally - until now.

“The University of Exeter contributes not only financially to the region but also by providing a graduate workforce that raises productivity and stimulates economic growth. The opportunity is now to work collaboratively with both business and government, exploiting and supporting regional specialisations, to deliver even more regional success in the future for the South West.”

Date: 9 April 2014