Fifty higher education providers at risk of exiting market in England, MPs told

Of the 24 institutions revealed to be at risk of exiting the market within 12 months, 17 were described as small and the remaining seven each had more than 3,000 students. Photograph: Andrew Fox/Alamy

Fifty higher education providers in England are at risk of exiting the market within the next two to three years, MPs on the House of Commons education committee have been told as part of their inquiry into university funding and the threat of insolvency.

The evidence follows last week’s gloomy forecast from England’s higher education regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), which warned that nearly half of universities were likely to be in the red next year as financial turmoil continues in the sector.