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Last week I posted a list of the green (and green-ish) universities I have the least concern about financially.
Originally posted on LinkedIn on January 13, 2026.
| Last week I posted a list of the green (and green-ish) universities I have the least concern about financially. It was, depressingly, a short list. The amber list, by contrast, is rather longer. Amber does not mean “about to fail”. It means “viable, but not safe”. The arithmetic works if recruitment holds and costs stay under control, but the scope for unpleasant surprises is real. To make the list intelligible, I group amber universities by the main thing that drives their risk. If you want the one-sentence verdict on each institution, you will need to follow the link to the full article. For now, here are the amber universities: the ones that have made, are making, or may soon have to make some fairly serious changes to stay amber — and, with luck, edge back towards green. 🟠 1) Research-intensive (big fixed costs; international fees often fund research gaps) 🏰 Edinburgh | 🌿 Exeter | ⚙️ Heriot-Watt | 🌹 Lancaster | 🏵️ Leeds | ⚓ Liverpool | 🏃 Loughborough | 🐝 Manchester | 🌉 Newcastle | 🏹 Nottingham | 👑 Queen’s Belfast | 🛠️ Sheffield | 🏰 Stirling | ⚙️ Strathclyde | 🌊 Swansea | 🧪 UCL | 🌾 UEA 🟠 2) London teaching universities (high London costs; thin margins; refinancing matters) 🚀 Brunel | 🏥 City St George’s | 🎭 Goldsmiths | 🛶 Kingston | 🏙️ London Met | 🧭 Middlesex | 🌳 Roehampton | 🏉 St Mary’s Twickenham | ✈️ UWL | 🏛️ Westminster 🟠 3) Specialist / creative (niche demand; small shocks can be big shocks) 🎨 Arts Univ Bournemouth | 🌊 Falmouth | 🩺 Health Sciences Univ | 🖌️ Leeds Arts | 🎭 Norwich Univ of the Arts | 🖼️ Royal College of Art | 🧵 UAL | 🎬 UCA 🟠 4) Regionally anchored (local demand + limited diversification; cash buys time, not certainty) 🎮 Abertay | 🌊 Aberystwyth | 🏔️ Bangor | 🛁 Bath Spa | 🏙️ Birmingham City | ⛪ Bishop Grosseteste | 🚉 Bucks New | 🐉 Cardiff Met | 🚗 Coventry | 🌳 Edge Hill | 🌿 Gloucestershire | 🏙️ Leeds Beckett | 🎓 Leeds Trinity | ⚓ Liverpool John Moores | 🏗️ Manchester Met | 🦁 Nottingham Trent | 🩺 Queen Margaret | 🛢️ Robert Gordon | 🚢 Solent | 🏔️ UHI | 🌊 Ulster | 🏗️ UWE Bristol | 🐉 Wales Trinity Saint David | ⛪ York St John 🟠 5) Private / alternative (often profitable, but exposed to policy, regulation, and working capital) 🖥️ Arden | 💼 BPP | 🏛️ Buckingham | ⚖️ University of Law |