SUMS Annual Conference 2026

EVENT DETAILS

SUMS Consulting Annual Conference 2026

Rightsize, Refocus and Rebuild

Wednesday 4 February 2026, 10:00 - 16:30 (drinks reception to follow from 16:30 - 17:30)

UK higher education is in crisis, with widespread redundancies and restructures across the sector. Rising costs, poor systems integration, and often overcomplicated academic models have left universities struggling, especially with declining international student income. While the government urges efficiency, many institutions remain trapped in a spiral of short-term fixes rather than pursuing genuine transformation.

You can’t just cut your way to strategic success. Long-term success depends on aligning institutional ambitions with financial realities and strategic goals. Real change requires understanding the academic portfolio's financial viability, aligning offerings with market demand, and exploring third-stream income. Institutions must rethink their models, simplify their structures, and embrace shared services and mergers where they will deliver long-term efficiencies. The call is to ‘think bigger’—collaborate, consolidate, and create institutions fit for future demand, not just survive current pressures.

Join us for this year’s SUMS Consulting Annual Conference as we invite delegates to explore alternative futures and consider how we rightsize, refocus and rebuild not just our own institutions, but the UK HE sector as a whole.