British universities have a peculiar relationship with collaboration. They’ll partner for research grants, share libraries, and even run joint degree programmes—right up until the moment they need to compete for the same students, staff, or funding. It’s like watching neighbours share garden tools while simultaneously building higher fences.

The Collaboration Paradox

Every university mission statement mentions collaboration. Every strategic plan promises partnerships. Every vice-chancellor’s speech includes paeans to “working together for the greater good.” Yet when push comes to shove, institutions guard their independence more fiercely than medieval city-states.

This paradox becomes most visible during crises. Universities facing financial difficulties prefer cutting jobs to sharing costs, despite the obvious economies of scale available through collaboration.

Where Cooperation Actually Works

Some areas show what’s possible:

Library Consortiums: Universities have successfully shared catalogue systems and resources for decades. Students can access materials across multiple institutions, and costs are shared efficiently.

Research Networks: Multi-institutional research centres demonstrate how collaboration can tackle problems too large for any single university.

Shared Services: Some universities already collaborate on IT infrastructure, procurement, and administrative functions—proving the concept works when institutions commit to it.

The Barriers to Friendship

Ranking Competition: League tables pit universities against each other, making collaboration feel like weakness rather than strength.

Brand Protection: Each institution wants to protect its unique identity and market position.

Governance Complexity: Collaborative decisions require multiple approval processes, slowing everything down.

Resource Jealousy: Nobody wants to share their best facilities or staff with competitors.

A Modest Proposal

Instead of competing to be the “best” university in narrow rankings, what if institutions competed to be the best collaborators? Imagine league tables that measured:

  • Successful partnership outcomes
  • Shared resource efficiency
  • Cross-institutional student mobility
  • Joint research impact

The Scottish Model

Scotland’s universities demonstrate what’s possible. Despite fierce competition, they’ve managed successful collaboration on admissions (UCAS), quality assurance, and international marketing. The result? A stronger sector overall.

Why It Matters

The current crisis in higher education funding makes collaboration not just desirable but essential. Universities can either work together to find solutions or watch each other struggle separately.

The choice seems obvious. The implementation, unfortunately, remains as elusive as ever.

Conclusion

Universities are better together—when they remember that their real competition isn’t each other, but irrelevance. Perhaps it’s time to turn those mission statement promises into actual policies.

After all, in an uncertain world, the best institutional strategy might just be having good friends.