Universities in the UK are under threat.
We believe that these changes to the way universities operate and are governed pose a risk to a university’s central function, which is to gather knowledge, free from interference, and to educate people in the skills they need to think critically and independently.
We believe that it’s time to fight back. At the heart of our campaign is a desire to resist the marketisation of higher education. Marketisation takes many forms – below are three areas where we believe it has been especially pernicious.
CDBU has endorsed the British Academy’s call for a comprehensive review of higher education and encourages all members to lobby their MPs to call upon the new Prime Minister and his government to institute such a review as a matter of urgency. We have produced a template letter, which you can cut and paste and adapt as you see fit.
CDBU’s Chair has written to the new Prime Minister, asking for an urgent meeting to discuss a review of Higher Education management, purpose and funding.
The Council for the Defence of British Universities recently invited applications to our second call for project funding.
The winner will be announced soon!
“The CDBU Code of Ethical University Governance is underpinned by the principle that governing bodies have a substantive part to play in affirming higher education as a prized public asset. The Code encourages governors to see themselves as ambassadors for their sector, promoting the university to everyone in society and providing reassurance that income is being spent fairly, transparently and in ways that maximise the educational value of the institution.”
Media coverage of the code:
‘A code of ethical university governance is overdue’
Wonkhe, 28 May 2025
‘University bodies too focused on competition, not sector health’
Times Higher Education, 28 May 2025
ICOP Briefing: ‘Why Universities Need an Ethical Code of Governance‘
Influencing Corridors of Power, 2 December 2025
Boards hampered by ‘power imbalances and over-familiarity’
Times Higher Education, 4 December 2025
HEPI Policy Note: ‘Strong support for ethical reform of university governance’
Higher Education Policy Institute, 4 December 2025
‘There’s a new code out on governors doing the right thing’
Wonkhe, 7 December 2025
This short paper articulates the nature and importance of academic freedom as a public good and highlights the contemporary challenges it faces. In the light of recent national discussions, it also sets out suggestions for protecting academic freedom, including a model ordinance that individual institutions might adopt to assert institutional autonomy in upholding this essential principle.
