Financial Statements 2022

Financial Statements

Contents

Welcome to the 2021-22 Financial Statements 2

Strategic report 4

Public benefit statement 15

Research, enterprise & regeneration activities 17

Teaching impact 24

Sustainability 26

Community and civic engagement 28

Outreach and widening participation 32

External engagement 34

Strategic risks 37

Financial review 40

Statement of corporate governance 46

Statement of internal control 48

Statement of responsibilities of the University’s Council 49

Independent auditor's report to the council of Buckinghamshire New University 50

Statement of council responsibilities in respect of the annual report and the financial statements 54

Statement of principal accounting policies 60

Accounting estimates and judgements 64

Notes to the Accounts 65

Board of Governors and advisors 90

Legal & administration 91

INSPIRED. EMPOWERED. EMPLOYED.

Welcome to the 2021-22 Financial Statements

We are delighted to present the annual report and financial statements for Buckinghamshire New University for 2021-22 which we believe represent the strongest results in our institution’s proud history.

In what has been a remarkably successful year, we have increased our student population and returned a third consecutive, and highest ever, surplus of £7.6m, cementing our financial sustainability, and we have embarked on significant estates redevelopment at our High Wycombe campus.

Our staff community are united in providing the best student experience. And so we were delighted that the National Student Survey results published in July 2022 showed that overall student satisfaction for our taught students increased by 10% to 80% to see BNU ranked 5th amongst all UK universities. BNU also performed strongly in the Whatuni Awards, ranking 2nd for teaching quality and 5th for student support.

BNU also ranked first amongst UK higher education institutions with 96% overall satisfaction in Advance HE’s 2022 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey.

This year saw a significant improvement in BNU’s research performance as measured by the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF). Strategically driven changes in our research culture and environment led to 44% of the University’s research being judged to be of world-leading or internationally excellent quality, based on the six subject-based units of assessment we submitted.

2021-22 marked the final year of the University’s Impact 22 strategy and we are proud that results such as these mean we have now met or exceeded the vast majority of the ambitious targets we set ourselves, despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing uncertainty and challenge for the higher education sector.

As well as these successes, the past year has brought moments of reflection. Our University community was deeply saddened by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and we continue to offer our sincere condolences to King Charles III and the Royal Family. We will

create a new University garden as a tribute to Her Majesty’s loyal and dedicated 70 years’ service. We are also honoured to be one of three organisations in Buckinghamshire to receive a commemorative tree from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, the ‘Tree of Trees’.

We reflected with great pride on the appointment of BNU alumnus Jay Blades MBE as the University’s first Chancellor, an inspiring individual and a shining example of the transformative power of the education we provide at BNU. We look forward to working closely with Jay in developing new courses in the area of furniture and design, and to harnessing his example as inspiration for our students, staff and community.

Indeed, being a responsible corporate citizen and doing the right thing by our staff, students and communities remains the bedrock of the University’s commitment to making a positive impact through its civic engagement work.

During the year, the University’s partnerships with stakeholders included playing our part in tackling food and hygiene poverty; helping local adults learn to read; and supporting veterans and military

families. BNU also introduced new scholarships to provide financial support and a place of safety for asylum seekers and refugees.

In the coming year, we will launch a new University strategy, Thrive 28, which will build on the successes we report in these financial statements, and which will make effective, substantial and lasting change to ensure BNU’s continued success.

Finally, we thank our staff, Council members and strategic partners for their continued support, and our students and learners for being such excellent ambassadors for the University. It is thanks to our University community’s hard work that we can all take collective pride in reporting the University’s remarkably successful performance in 2021-22.

Nick Braisby Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive

Professor

Maggie Galliers CBE Chair of Council and Pro-Chancellor

Strategic report

As with the past two years of financial statements, the University is again reporting a very successful performance. We believe that our financial results for 2021-22 are the strongest in the University’s history, and we have continued to make excellent progress in meeting our strategic objectives. This year’s strategic report also marks the launch of our exciting and ambitious new University strategy, Thrive 2028. The University has made considerable achievements in implementing our existing University strategy, Impact 2022 and section 6 of this report details just how successfully the University has reached the targets set in Impact 2022.

That the success of the past three years has been achieved against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and continuing uncertainty and challenge for the higher education sector is all the more reason why this report details the University’s relevant context and some key developments that have helped deliver strategic progress. We start, however, by noting two significant events that have punctuated the University’s year.

1. Queen Elizabeth II

2022 was marked by the sad news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The news broke during the University’s graduation week and, as a mark of respect, the University rapidly postponed its planned ceremony to invest Jay Blades as Chancellor.

The Queen will be remembered with great affection. She was the longest serving monarch in British history, coming to the throne in 1952, on her father’s death, and then reigning for 70 years and 214 days. The Queen was the backdrop to the stories of all members of our University community, and the finest example of professionalism and selfless dedication to duty. The University offers its sincere condolences to King Charles III and to all members of the Royal Family.

Earlier in 2022 the University was delighted to support the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant, and to

be one of three organisations in Buckinghamshire to receive a commemorative tree from those celebrations as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) Initiative, the ‘Tree of Trees’. In autumn of 2022, His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, The Countess Howe, will join us in a ceremonial planting which will now form a tribute to Her Late Majesty, alongside the opening of a new University garden.

social enterprise Jay & Co, which helps disadvantaged and disengaged groups.

Jay will inspire our students and staff and is himself a superb example of someone overcoming challenge in the pursuit of education. He has frequently acknowledged the University for supporting him as a student to overcome his dyslexia and his challenge with reading. We will also be working with Jay to develop new furniturerelated courses and facilities, and create legacy projects to provide opportunities and benefits for both students and local communities.

3. Our Context

Since its foundation in 1891 as the School of Science and Art, Buckinghamshire New University’s mission has always been to transform lives through inspiring, employmentand profession-focused education, enabling people to impact society and their future positively.

2. Chancellor

Earlier this year, we proudly announced that Jay Blades MBE is to be the first Chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University (BNU). Jay is an alumnus of BNU, having studied criminology and philosophy. He has since become an award-winning broadcaster, modern furniture restorer, and social entrepreneur, and received an MBE in 2021 for services to craft.

Jay is well-known throughout the UK, and beyond, as the presenter of The Repair Shop. What is less well known is that he has spent most of his working life encouraging young people to develop their skillsets and get involved with practical jobs. He spent his 20s working in factories, and then, after studying as a mature student at BNU, he started a charity working with disadvantaged young people to understand how they were being treated by police officers. He later set up the Out of the Dark charity where he taught young people how to restore and sell old furniture to make them job-ready and to believe in themselves more. He now runs

Our roots are intimately woven into the heritage of our communities and the industries they have supported. In the 20th century, we developed strong links with local crafts like furniture-making and cabinetry, design and manufacture. In 1999 we were awarded University College status and became known as Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College. In 2007, we adopted our current name – Buckinghamshire New University. In 2009 we consolidated our various sites and in 2010 we opened the innovative Gateway Building, a stateof-the-art integrated learning complex which won a prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) award.

Today, the region in which the University operates, and covered by the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership, is the 4th strongest within the UK for competitiveness, reflecting the extent of business start-ups and the depth of the knowledge-based economy. Our work with business reflects the county’s unique potential as a hub of infrastructure spend and development, including HS2, the EastWest rail link, the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, the Aylesbury Garden Town

project, Heathrow expansion and Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

The University currently operates over five sites. Our principal campus is in the Buckinghamshire market town of High Wycombe, surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, much of it designated an area of outstanding natural beauty. We also operate three satellite campuses: Uxbridge in north-west London; and Aylesbury and Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire. We have three halls of residence in High Wycombe – Hughenden Park Student Village, Windsor House, and Brook Street – with a combined capacity of 885 bedrooms. Finally, we are proud to own Missenden Abbey in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, a converted 12th Century abbey which provides an exceptional conference, wedding and events venue hotel/conference facility.

Over the past 10 years or so, we have invested in excess of £100m to create state-of-the-art facilities, including the University library, media production studios, our multi-million-pound Human Performance, Exercise and Wellbeing Centre and physiotherapy clinic. In 2019, we completed the redevelopment of the south wing of our High Wycombe campus, creating new learning areas and an innovation hub, and established new social learning and Nursing simulation facilities at our site in Aylesbury. Investment this year has supported the expansion of our site at Pinewood Studios and the development of the 3rd floor of our Aylesbury campus. We are in the midst of a significant c. £16m development at the High Wycombe campus and further estates developments at Missenden Abbey.

3.1. A new University Strategy 2021-22 was the final year of the University’s strategy, Impact 2022, which set our long-term strategic vision to be an innovative, teaching-oriented University, delivering sector-leading and life-changing educational and employment outcomes for our students. It established a set of interconnected strategies for the University to make significant progress against this longerterm vision by 2022. Impact 2022 is detailed in section 6 of the Strategic Report. The University has been heavily engaged this year in creating a new

University strategy, Thrive 2028.

Building on Impact 2022, Thrive 2028 affirms the long-term strategic vision for the University to:

• become a University that is highly connected, permeable, student- and customer-focused, business-oriented, strategically aligned, impactful and aligned to strategic partners;

• provide an education that is flexible, inclusive, enquiry-based, employerinformed, and designed around the needs of all of our students – traditional and non-traditional, such as apprentice learners;

• develop our position as an innovative, teaching-oriented University, delivering sector-leading and life-changing educational and employment outcomes;

• deliver research and innovation that impacts and enhances lives and society and underpins our educational offer;

• be an outwardly-focused institution, entrepreneurial in spirit, meeting our ethical and social responsibilities, expanding our reach through working together with learners, employers, the public, and strategic partners;

• reach out to all our communities, cementing our position as Buckinghamshire’s University, and building on our civic engagement within the county, London and the South-East;

• be a learning organisation, enabling our staff to flourish, build their expertise and professional practice, and continuously excel and improve our organisational effectiveness;

• be financially strong, ensuring our sustainability through realising efficiencies, growth, expansion, and investment; and

• be a vibrant, inclusive community that inspires learning, develops potential, widens participation and ambitiously transforms lives.

Thrive 2028 will make effective, substantial and lasting change to ensure that each of the four central pillars underpinning the University’s success is thriving: our relationship with our customers, our product base, our people, and our environment.

Across the four pillars are key themes on which the University will focus particular effort in the period of the strategy.

Health and well-being

We will work to help all our people –students and staff – thrive in regard to their health and well-being, improving their satisfaction and fulfilment.

Digital

We will work to provide our people – students and staff – with digitallyenabled ways of interacting and communicating, enabling them to thrive in their learning, studying and working.

Sustainability and carbon net-zero

We will work to meet all carbon netzero and nature-positive commitments, helping our environment and all whose life depends upon it to thrive.

Student outcomes

We will work to the highest quality standards, helping our students to thrive in their studies, and so achieve excellent academic, experiential, and employment outcomes

Academic footprint

We will expand and grow our range of subjects, courses and academic expertise, ensuring always that the University’s subject- and knowledgebase thrives, building resilience and enabling core growth.

Civic University

We will work with our local and regional communities, and key community and civic organisations, helping them to thrive

Inclusivity

We will work to embed inclusivity throughout our organisation, ensuring that all feel they fully belong to, and can thrive in, the BNU community

3.2. Growth in Student Numbers

Student numbers on programmes taught by and registered at BNU have continued to grow. Year on year growth between 2020-21 and 2021-

22 was approximately 25%, taking the number of BNU students to 7130 full-time equivalence (FTE), and successfully reaching it’s the Impact 2022 growth target of 7000-7500 FTE.

Growth at BNU has been strategically driven: by the increased appeal of our courses, the University’s improved reputation and new brand, and by the expansion of the University’s portfolio, including new undergraduate programmes such as Paramedicine and Midwifery and new postgraduate programmes such as Physiotherapy.

Our growth has seen greater diversification in our income streams. The numbers of apprenticeships grew by 45% year on year; there was 11% growth in undergraduate student numbers; and 96% growth in the numbers of taught postgraduate students. This means that currently 69% of BNU students are studying for undergraduate qualifications (a reduction from 76% in 202021), 16% are studying for a taught postgraduate award (an increase from 10% in 2020-21), and 14% are registered on a degree apprenticeship (an increase from 12% in 2020-21).

The number of BNU students studying at partner institutions on validated or franchise provision (12,747 FTE) has decreased slightly (c. 2% reduction), in line with our strategic objectives. 93% of these students are studying in the UK, with 7% at overseas partners.

3.3. A Diverse Student Body

The University’s international profile has grown considerably, with nonEU international students making up around 16% of BNU numbers compared to 5% a year earlier. EU recruitment has reduced from its peak but remains a significant market with around 7% of our students coming from the EU. Together these factors caused an increase in applications for entry in 2022, with demand for full time undergraduate places up by 44% and demand for full time postgraduate places up by 117%. Acceptances grew by 10% and 72% respectively.

Our student body remains demographically diverse. As with many other higher education institutions, most of our students are female (57%;

43% male). They are ethnically diverse, 48% being white, 25% Asian, and 19% Black. 12% of our students have declared a disability. 69% of students begin their study as mature students, whilst 31% are aged 18 years or less.

4. Strategic Developments

This section outlines key developments in the past year in helping ensure the University delivers against the strategic objectives of Impact 2022 and in preparation for our new University Strategy, Thrive 2028.

abundant natural light and greenery, that will better connect the existing campus. It is intended that the project will be complete for summer 2023.

This year also saw the completion of the 3rd floor of our Aylesbury site. With increasing demand for space to facilitate teaching in health and social care, this space has been redeveloped with c. £2m of capital funding from the Office for Students. The funding will provide a step change in the technological base of the University’s learning and teaching of nursing, midwifery and paramedicine, advancing students’ skillsets and enhancing graduates’ employability. It will enable the University to create a Centre of Excellence for Digital Health, working with our NHS Trust partners and the BNU Health and Social Care Academy, which the University helped to found.

4.2. Research

2022 saw the University receive the latest assessment of its research in the periodic Research Excellence Framework (REF), the national process which measures the quality and impact of research in UK universities.

4.1. Estates Developments

This year, the University has embarked on a significant redevelopment of its principal campus in High Wycombe. The programme, which will see the University invest c. £16m in new facilities, will create a new centre for the campus, ensuring that students are at the heart of the University physically as well as functionally. We will create a three-story Atrium to accommodate receptions, shows, and graduation ceremonies, as well as provide quiet and calm social learning spaces. Technical workshops, supporting programmes in art, craft and design, have been repurposed and redeveloped at a cost of c. £1m to provide new, state-of-theart facilities. A new student hub will offer a first line of support and advice for all student queries and a brandnew refectory will offer high-quality, nutritious and value for money food and beverages. Sitting on top of the atrium, will be a new roof garden, providing additional green and open space for students and staff. The design principles behind the project include the creation of permeable spaces, including beautiful communal and private areas, with

These results show a significant improvement on the University’s 2014 performance, an achievement that can partly be attributed to the following strategically driven changes:

• Creation of a new Graduate School

• Additional funding to support staff research

• Seed funding through the strategic priorities/policy support fund

• Creation of a Vice-Chancellor’s PhD Studentship Award

• Establishing the BNU Academic Framework, recognising and setting clear expectations around research

• Early career researcher training

4.3. Postgraduate Research

BNU ranked first for overall satisfaction in Advance HE’s 2022 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey. This national survey involved 62 UK higher education institutions and saw BNU achieve an overall satisfaction rate of 96%. We also ranked 1st overall for responsibilities (95%) and supervision (94%) and ranked 2nd for progression (93%) and 4th for research skills (91%).

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES)

Ranked

1 st

for overall satisfaction in Advance HE’s 2022 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey.

This national survey involved 62 UK higher education institutions

BNU achieved an overall satisfaction rate of 96%

Ranked 1st overall for responsibilities (95%)

Ranked 1st overall for supervison (94%)

Ranked 2nd overall for progression (93%)

Ranked 4th overall for research skills (91%)

Research Excellence Framework (REF) performance

44%

of BNU research was judged to be of world-leading (3*) or internationally excellent quality (4* ), based on the six subjectbased units of assessment (UOA) we submitted.

Research in the following UOAs is of worldleading or internationally excellent quality

• Art and Design, History, Practice and Theory (60%)

• Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism (58%)

• Social Work and Social Policy (50%).

• Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences (49%)

• Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy (49%)

• Education (17%)

Impact (3* or 4*)

Art and Design, History, Practice and Theory (100%) Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences (75%)

Research output quality (3* or 4*) Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism (75%) Social Work and Social Policy (67%)

4.4. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

2022 also saw the University invest in support for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), investment which has paid dividends in its first year of operation as the University was successful in securing two significant KTPs. BNU’s School of Business and Law secured a £150k partnership in collaboration with Oasis Partnership, to help it develop the capabilities required to launch, manage, and continue to develop new commercial services. Our School of Art, Design and Performance also secured a £190k partnership with Serious Brands for a project aiming to enable the fine-tuning of the spectral output of a light source, helping to ease symptoms for individuals suffering debilitating conditions such as migraine, tinnitus and myopia.

4.5. Mental Health

In 2021-22 the University announced that it had joined the University Mental Health Charter programme. The vision of the Charter is for all UK universities to adopt and promote an inclusive approach to mental health, and to safeguard the wellbeing of their staff and students. We believe that by embracing the charter and embedding its principles, the University will see: improved mental health and wellbeing of staff and students; better student recruitment, retention, satisfaction, progression, attainment, and employability rates; and improved performance, reduced absenteeism, lower turnover, and higher creativity among staff.

4.6. Scholarships

The University keeps its scholarship and bursary offer under constant review, and this year we introduced two new student scholarships to provide financial support and a place of safety for asylum seekers and refugees.

The new scholarships – open to those without an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification and who have an offer to study at BNU –provide financial support to refugees and asylum seekers who are ineligible for funding from the Student Loan Company due to their immigration status. The scholarships will provide

the full cost of tuition; provide an annual maintenance allowance; cover the cost of accommodation in BNU’s halls of residence; provide tailored pastoral support and guidance; and free gym membership.

4.7. Student Futures

This year BNU became one of only 20 UK universities to have pledged to develop a Student Futures Manifesto, a commitment to joint action between a university and its students to respond to issues caused by the pandemic.

Developing a Student Futures Manifesto is the key recommendation from the UPP Foundation’s Student Futures Commission report which was launched in March at a House of Commons reception attended by the University’s Vice-Chancellor.

BNU will work with BNU Students' Union to co-produce and publish a series of actions across the six themes identified in the report as key to successful student futures:

• Support for students before they reach university;

• An induction into university life for each year of study;

• Support for mental health and wellbeing;

• A clear outline of the teaching students will receive and the necessary tools to access it;

• Activities inside and outside the curriculum that build skills, networks and communities; and

• A clear pathway towards graduate outcomes.

4.8. Social Responsibility

4.8.1. GTRSB

The University helped create and support the innovative pledge scheme for higher education institutions – the GTRSB into Higher Education pledge – to support students from the Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman and Boater (GTRSB) communities. This year saw BNU extend the pledge, inviting schools across England to commit to a more inclusive environment for GTRSB pupils.

Like the GTRSB into Higher Education pledge, the Pledge for Schools requires schools to make the commitment to work towards creating the most appropriate and welcoming environment and conditions in which GTRSB pupils can stay resilient and thrive academically and personally.

BNU also became the latest university to formally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antigypsyism and anti-Roma discrimination. Consistent with the University’s historic mission to create a learning community that is truly inclusive, the definition will strengthen the University’s existing policies on racism, discrimination, harassment and bullying.

4.8.2. Sustainability

In 2022, BNU proudly announced that it had signed the Nature Positive Universities Pledge (NPUP). This scheme is closely aligned with our aims and ambitions under the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and we are delighted to be recorded among the scheme’s founding members. The scheme will see the University undertake a formal biodiversity assessment of its portfolio and use the data it acquires to develop SMART targets for improvement. We will report progress in October 2023.

4.8.3. Non-Disclosure Agreements

In 2022 BNU became one of the first universities to pledge its commitment to ending the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)in cases of sexual misconduct, bullying or other forms of harassment. Launched by the Department for Education, the pledge follows a widely backed national campaign urging universities not to pressure victims into signing legally binding NDAs that both stop them speaking out and protect the accused.

BNU has long held the position that NDAs should not be used in cases of sexual misconduct, bullying or other forms of harassment. This is part of the University’s commitment to creating an inclusive culture based on openness and transparency.

4.8.4. Food Poverty and Cost of Living

This year saw the University work with its communities to address the challenge of food poverty. The University hosted a public debate bringing together panellists from local organisations committed to eradicating food poverty in High Wycombe and worked closely with two local charities to support people experiencing food insecurity, the One Can Trust and the Wycombe Food Hub. We have also initiated a scheme to provide free meals during the 2022 autumn half-term, when many families experience particular hardship because they cannot rely on free school meals.

The University also worked in partnership with BNU Students' Union to introduce subsidies at its campus cafes. New cheaper menus are available across the cafes at BNU’s campuses, run by the Students’ Union, an initiative we estimate will save the average student around £100 per month in living costs.

4.8.5. Corporate Social Responsibility

BNU successfully retained its Gold Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Accreditation award in a national scheme which recognises sustainable and ethical businesses. BNU was awarded the highest Gold Accreditation as “visible testimony of its excellence” in CSR, following an independent assessment by an accreditation panel. The University was rated across four areas: environment; philanthropy; community and workplace.

4.8.6. Military

BNU is a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant and holds the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award. We are members of the Buckinghamshire Armed Forces Covenant Civilian and Military Partnership Board, and work with the British Legion, The Royal Air Forces Association, NHS and various charities including Hounds for Heroes.

This year the University hosted two significant events to recognise the enormous contributions made to the country by our armed services.

In June, we hosted a Beat the Retreat Concert and Sunset Ceremony at Missenden Abbey in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund and were enormously grateful to Tim Marshall OBE, former Council member of the University, who masterminded the event. The Central Band of the RAF played by permission of the Air Force Board of the Defence Council, and were joined by the Great Missenden Choral Society. Also in June we hosted an exhibition for Armed Forces Week to support the military community from Buckinghamshire and celebrate BNU’s contribution to the defence sector. In collaboration with the BNU Free Press, the exhibition showcased 40 stories on: the role of Buckinghamshire and its residents both during and post-wartimes; the contributions of BNU’s serving and ex-serving military colleagues, students and alumni; and the University’s history in providing education for armed forces personnel from the University’s origins more than 130 years ago to the present day.

4.8.7. Support for Literacy

This year BNU provided a significant financial donation of £5,000 to Read Easy Chilterns, a new charity which helps local adults learn to read. All reading coaches give their time for free but the charity has to fundraise to cover the costs of all learning materials. BNU’s donation means that the charity can purchase learning resource packs for the charity’s first 100 readers.

Read Easy Chilterns is part of Read Easy UK, a national charity founded in 2010 which provides free, confidential one-to-one reading coaching for adults from trained volunteers, through locally-run, affiliated volunteer groups. The charity featured on a BBC documentary about dyslexia made by BNU’s inaugural Chancellor, Jay Blades MBE which aired earlier this year and in which BNU featured.

4.9. League Tables

The University performed well overall in national league tables this year, with rises in some areas counterbalancing falls in others.

4.9.1. Guardian University Guide

The University continued its ascent of the Guardian University Guide, with our 2022 results in the National Student Survey (NSS) playing a strong part in its climb in the 2023 edition of the guide. As a result, we rose seven places to rank joint 70th place in the Guardian, up from 77th place last year.

This year’s rise represented BNU’s fourth successive year-on-year improvement in the Guide. Particular highlights at subject level include:

• 3rd in the UK for Mental Health Nursing

• 3rd for Fashion and Textiles in the UK

• 4th in the UK for Graphic Design

• 9th for Animation & Game Design in the UK

• 11th in England for General Nursing

Out of 121 universities, BNU ranked 14th for student satisfaction with assessment and feedback and appeared in the upper half of the league table for students’ satisfaction with their course (48th) and teaching (50th).

4.9.2. Complete University Guide

Having climbed to a recent high of 102nd in the 2022 edition of the Complete University Guide the University slipped back to 107th for 2023. This edition of the guide does not include this year’s NSS results – it relies on last year’s NSS and graduate outcomes data – and so we predict that next year’s edition of the guide will see a further rise.

4.9.3. The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide

The University’s substantial improvement in this year’s NSS results sadly could not prevent a further fall of two places in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023. We attribute this to the exclusion in this edition of a metric on which the University has previously scored very highly - expenditure per student on academic services/staff and student facilities. We ranked 10th in the UK on this metric in last year’s edition.

Nevertheless, the University climbed 41 places into the top 10 for teaching quality and climbed 60 places into the top 20 for student experience among non-specialist UK higher education providers.

The University also ranked in the top 50 for our student-to-staff ratio having climbed 48 places to rank 48th. Further improvements saw us climb to 15th from 26th for social inclusion, and rise to 11th for lowest Black achievement gap among all UK providers.

4.9.4. Whatuni Awards and League Table

BNU also performed well in the annual Whatuni Awards and league table. Based on actual interviews with students, arguably this table provides a more authentic reflection of students’ experience. The University climbed 43 places this year to rank 11th for the Whatuni 2022 University of the Year, its best performance since the student comparison site launched.

BNU also finished as runners-up for ‘Lecturers and Teaching Quality’ and ranked in the top ten for Student Support (5th), International (7th), Students’ Union (9th), and Career Prospects (10th).

5. Other Developments

5.1.1. Academic Schools

The Schools of Health Care and Social Work, and Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health, underwent a minor reorganisation to become the Schools of Health and Social Care Professions, and Nursing and Midwifery.

5.1.2.

University Executive Team

In the 2021-22 year, the University’s Executive Team (UET) saw a number of changes. Professor Gavin Brooks left the University, and Professor Paul Morgan, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience) joined the UET. Professor Rachel Cragg was made Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education and Digital).

5.1.3. Buckinghamshire University Technical College

Buckinghamshire University Technical College (UTC) transferred to a multiacademy trust, the Merchant Taylors’ Oxfordshire Academy Trust (MTOAT), on 1st November 2021. The UTC, which continues to be sponsored by the University, offers a STEM-based education for 14–19-year-olds and brings together BNU, Buckinghamshire College Group and major local employers like Taylor Wimpey, Cisco, Morgan Sindall, Galliford Try, BMW Group & McAfee in partnership.

6. Our Regulatory and Competitive Environment

The University operates in a competitive national and international market attracting students and staff from across the region, the United Kingdom and around the world to study and work at one of our campuses. We are an autonomous institution and determine our own mission and strategy, although as a supplier of publicly funded higher education, we are subject to regulation and legislation to ensure that we act responsibly in our use of public funds.

The University is an exempt charity within the meaning of Schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011. The Higher Education and Research Act of 2017 (HERA) established the Office for Students (OfS) as the principal regulator of the University as a charitable institution.

The OfS’s primary aim is to ensure that English higher education is delivering positive outcomes for students – past, present, and future – and to ensure that students, from all backgrounds (particularly the most disadvantaged), can access, succeed in, and progress from higher education. The OfS focuses on delivering four primary regulatory objectives, that all students, from all backgrounds, and with the ability and desire to undertake higher education:

• are supported to access, succeed in, and progress from, higher education;

• receive a high-quality academic

experience, and their interests are protected while they study or in the event of provider, campus or course closure;

• are able to progress into employment or further study, and their qualifications hold their value over time; and

• receive value for money.

The University has a highly diverse mix of students, with regulated limits to fees for UK and undergraduate students. There is flexibility to set fee levels for postgraduate and EU and international students.

All universities which charge fees for home undergraduate students above £6,165 a year (up to the limit of £9,250) are required to submit an Access and Participation Plan (APP) to the OfS. The University’s annual APP was approved at the time of registration and a five-year plan was approved by the OfS in September 2019 which runs until 2024-25. The plan commented positively on our record in opening up higher education to all that can benefit. Our progress towards meeting targets since approval of the plan contains many highlights, including the fact that the University has no attainment gap for disabled students (indeed they achieve a higher rate of good honours), the fact that our black awarding gap has been steadily falling to stand now at around two thirds the size of the gap seen across the sector, and that our overall BAME awarding gap is half what it was five years ago.

The regulatory environment continues to evolve, and the University has taken steps to ensure its compliance with OfS requirements by consolidating responsibility for University compliance oversight into the role of University Secretary and Clerk to the Council.

7. Our Objectives and Strategies

During 2019-20, the University formally adopted its new strategy, Impact 2022. The University consulted widely in the development of the strategy, reaching out to all our key stakeholders for their views and insight. The result is a strategy that focuses the University’s activity over three years as it builds on the transformation programme which was completed at the end of 2018-19.

Impact 2022 is structured around two core strategies: Education and Research; and Knowledge Exchange. Aligned to these, it prioritises work on four underpinning areas of strategic resource and infrastructure – Digital, People, Finance, and our Estate, and on four cross-cutting strategic themes –Social Responsibility and Reputation, Customer Service, One University, and Commercial.

7.1. Our performance

As the University approaches the conclusion of its Impact 2022 strategy, 2021-22 has seen the University reach the majority of the strategic objectives that were set in spite of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Education

The University aims to develop sector-leading impact, becoming renowned for an education that is flexible and practice-based, built around the needs of its students and ensuring their career success.

Research and Knowledge Exchange

Social Responsibility and Reputation

Research and knowledge exchange activities will enrich our inclusive, learning community. They will help us reach out to the public, to our communities, and to our key strategic partners. They will help us to innovate and continually improve our enquiry-based education.

We aim to be a University that always meets its social responsibilities and is able to deliver successfully for those that engage with us for the services we provide. We will set and achieve high standards, celebrate and promote our successes, and be self-critical where we need to improve further.

Customer Service

Key to our success will be identifying, understanding and responding to our customers, ensuring that our services are continually adapted to meet their needs. We will always question what we could have done to improve customer satisfaction, and will ask for and act on feedback on our performance.

One University

We will ensure our services and operations are integrated and holistic, with teams increasingly working across the boundaries of their School or Professional Service, so that our customers’ experience is of one, cohesive organisation. We will encourage staff to take end-to-end responsibility ensuring customers feel that they interact with One University. We will build and foster one community and encourage continuous learning working closely with our alumni and students.

Commercial

We will deliver greater and more sustainable financial returns from those activities with a commercial focus. We will ensure that business to business services and relationships enable the University to take advantage of commercial opportunities. We will ensure our commercial work is agile, responsive, and flexible, rooted in an accurate understanding of income and financial and opportunity costs.

Digital

We will shape our digital strategy around the need to prepare our students for a world of work rooted in the cutting-edge use of digital technology. We will develop our core infrastructure, promoting the functionality and behaviour needed to support the strategies of Impact 2022. The student and user experience will be at the heart of the digital strategy positioning the University to take full advantage of new technology, including shaping, improving and transforming our business processes.

People

We will create a diverse workplace culture which prizes the high performance that will be key to our success and develops our people, their skills, attitudes and behaviours and ensures their alignment with strategic priorities. We will support our people putting in place structures and processes to promote well-being, reward and recognise our staff, and ensure they are supported to fulfil the expectations of their roles.

Financial

We will develop the financial capabilities, resources and infrastructure to ensure we can invest appropriately in our strategic priorities. We will generate annual surpluses, meet our ongoing need for capital investment, manage our financial affairs prudently, including controlling cost, and ensure that the money we have works hard for us and in a way that respects our social responsibilities.

Estate

We will ensure our whole estate conveys a coherent and appropriate look and feel for the University, one that reflects our strategic vision, mission and values. We will refurbish and redevelop our campuses to ensure they support learning, enhance the University community, providing a sense of destination and arrival, and contribute to minimising our impact on the environment.

The overall success of Impact 2022 is measured against a clear and simple set of key performance indicators and targets. The targets in the table below are those that the University aimed to achieve by 2022.

Student numbers

The University reached its target of 7000-7500 FTE in March 2022. Current projections for October 2022 see the number remain in this range, around 7130 FTE.

League table activity

Reflecting on the three principal league tables – the Complete University Guide, the Guardian University Guide, and the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide – the University achieved an aggregate position of 99th for the first time in 2021 and maintained this in 2022. Impact 2022 targeted an aggregate position of 80th and although this was not achieved, the University has put substantial distance between its position and the bottom of the rankings, having occupied the bottom five in all three publications in 2018. When the University’s ranking in Whatuni is included, however, the University’s aggregate ranking is 77th overall, ahead of the target set by Impact 2022.

Overall student satisfaction

The University has one of the highest levels of student satisfaction in the sector and our assessment is that we have met the target set by Impact 2022. Impact 2022 set a target of 85%, but this was set in the context of a sector average satisfaction rate of 84% in 2018. As a result of pandemic, the sector average satisfaction rate has now fallen to 75%. BNU’s 2022 satisfaction rate of 80% exceeds this by a greater margin than the original target would have.

Retention

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) performance indicators show that the University’s overall rates of continuation improved in 2019-20, reaching 83% and exceeding the sector benchmark and Impact 2022 target of 81.2%. The figure for BNU’s taught provision increased from 84.8% to 86%.

Highly-skilled employment

The proportion of BNU graduates who have a positive outcome 15 months after graduation has improved to 69.7% for the cohort of 2019-20. This is an improvement on the graduate outcomes for the class of 2018/19, who were adversely affected by the pandemic and only saw a rate of 65.6% enjoying a positive outcome. Positive outcomes are triggered by having graduate level employment as a main activity (according to the Standard Occupational Classification codes) or being in further study. The University’s benchmark was 71.3% across 2017/18 and 2018/19.

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)

The University was awarded a Silver TEF rating in September 2018 and had expected to improve on this by 2022. However, the TEF scheme has now been significantly modified and there have been no opportunities during the period of Impact 2022 for the University to make a further submission. 2023 will see the new TEF submission and award.

Surplus

2021-22 saw the University record its highest ever surplus, £7.6m, and 8.6% of income, comfortably within the 7-10% range set by Impact 2022. This is the third successive surplus posted by the University, after three previous successive deficits, and marks a major transformation in the University’s financial sustainability.

Staff costs

Staff costs for 2021-22 are 46.0% of income, and therefore meeting the Impact 2022 target of being held below 50%.

Liquidity

As of July 31st 2022, the University held cash reserves amounting to £54.6m, yielding liquidity of 253 days, comfortably exceeding the Impact 2022 target of a minimum of 150 days.

Impact 2022 Outcome

BNU student numbers to 7,000-7,500 FTE

Overall student satisfaction above 85% and other satisfaction scores above benchmark

Improved retention and highly skilled employment indicators above benchmark

Improved our reputation to 80th or better in aggregate across league tables

Achieved TEF Gold

Achieved a recurrent annual surplus of 7-10% *

Target Achieved/Not Achieved

7130 FTE Achieved

Overall satisfaction score = 80%, 5% above sector average ** Achieved

all other satisfaction scores except one at or above benchmark Achieved

Continuation = 83%, exceeding sector benchmark Achieved

Highly skilled employment = 69.7% Benchmark not yet available.

Improve aggregate league table position to 99th (excluding Whatuni) Not achieved

Improve aggregate league table position to 77th (including Whatuni) Achieved

TEF silver No new submissions permissible in Impact 2022 period.

Surplus of £7.6m or 8.6% in 2022 Achieved

Third successive year of surpluses Achieved

Managed staff costs prudently to no more than 50% of income * Staff costs = 46.0% in 2022 Achieved

Ensured liquidity is in excess of 150 days.

Liquidity = 253 days Achieved

*The preceding financial indicators and targets – surplus and staff costs – were set against the financial performance of the University in 2018-19, and since then the University’s financial statements reflect the full income and cost value of franchise partnership activity. As a consequence, to understand University financial performance, the above targets need to be related to an income figure adjusted to reflect the net contribution from those partnerships (adjusted income: £88.63m in 2021-22).

** See page 13 section on Overall Student Satisfaction for further details.

Public benefit statement

The University’s Impact 2022 strategy expresses the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and reaffirms our commitment to reduce our environmental impact; increase sustainability; and address challenges by building effective and strategic partnerships. BNU was the first university in the UK to achieve Gold CSR Accreditation twice, with its commitment described by the awarding body as ‘a visible testimony of excellence’ in CSR.

Being a responsible corporate citizen is important to us and so we will:

• deliver against our mission as a civic University, engaging with communities in Buckinghamshire and elsewhere;

• engage effectively with business, actively contributing to the local and national industrial strategies, and economic growth within the region; and

• minimise the environmental impact of our estate by setting new targets to meet the highest standards around energy, waste and travel.

The most direct beneficiaries of our impact are our highly diverse community of undergraduate and postgraduate students who choose BNU for sector-leading and lifechanging education, designed to deliver excellent employment outcomes.

We provide an education that works for all regardless of background or circumstance, and provides skills for life, to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. In the Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, published in September 2022 based partly on data relating to the 2021-22 financial year, we rose 11 places to rank 15th in England for social inclusion and 1st in the South East (excluding London). We also ranked 11th for the lowest Black achievement gap, improving from 23rd nationally last year – we’re 1st in the South East and among post-92 institutions.

These achievements highlight our growing improvement in supporting all BNU students to succeed, underpinning our mission to widen participation through the transformative education we provide.

BNU supports tens of thousands of regional jobs with its beneficial impact estimated to be in the region of £0.95bn annually, reflecting the economic activity of the University’s students, staff, and alumni. BNU students work in and support many key local industries, including the vitally important health and social care sector, and are active contributors to local and regional charities and voluntary groups.

A report published by the Higher Education Policy Institute in September 2021 showed that international students delivered a net economic benefit of £25.9 billion to the UK in 2018/9, with significant contributions across the constituencies in which BNU’s campuses are based:

• Uxbridge and South Ruislip: £129.4m

• High Wycombe: £45.6m

• Aylesbury: £20.1m

Throughout the year, our University community worked tirelessly to continue our long-hold commitment to make a positive contribution and impact through our business activity across several key areas:

• Research, enterprise and regeneration activities

• Teaching impact

• Sustainability

• Community and civic engagement

• Outreach and widening participation activities

• External engagement

Our University has been transforming lives for more than 130 years, from developing our students’ full potential to making a positive impact to the environment and in our communities.

Research, enterprise and regeneration activities

and global communities we serve.

We engage with the wider world in many ways, and knowledge exchange has long been at the heart of our research and innovation activities. We are passionate about working collaboratively with industry and our local communities to benefit both the economy and society.

Research highlights

Buckinghamshire New University is committed to generating quality research that tackles the challenges of today and makes a difference to the lives of people in our local community, across the UK and around the world.

We develop our research across a wide range of fields which include; renewable, deforestation, energy storage, energy use and carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology. Our teams work with stakeholders to find sustainable solutions.

For example, aacademics from our School of Aviation and Security have collaborated with the European Commission Joint Research Centre to estimate regional variation in air transport connectivity across the EU, UK and EEA regions and the impact of airport incentive schemes and policies on these disparities. The research project, supported by Research England’s Quality-Related Policy Support Fund (PSF), involved the development of a new regional air transport vulnerability and dependence index and European Airport Policy Incentive Database to estimate the impact of incentive policies on disparities in air transport access during the pre-pandemic period.

Academics in the School of Aviation and Security were also successful in being awarded funding from Bristol International Airport’s Carbon Transition scheme to conduct research into several carbon reducing journey to work schemes, informed by a large-scale employee journey-to-work survey.

Water management: research value of £350k

BNU’s research on water management brings innovative science together with communities and stakeholders across six European countries to promote sustainable water management and a better environment as their population grows.

Europe faces major challenges in water supply security as well as a high vulnerability to floods. This is likely to worsen due to climate change along with the expected economic growth of Europe and associated increase in population. In addition, relationships between the natural environment and urban water infrastructure are highly complex, comprising several elements – from hydrological to social and political - and its respective stakeholders (government and planning authorities, industry, developers and citizens). Furthermore, governance is historically ill-equipped to handle these challenges. To address these challenges, Europe’s water management needs integrated, collaborative and appropriate management, informed by the latest scientific understanding of hydrological and ecological systems which is delivered by the work led by BNU.

Solutions for easy access to hygienic drinking water: research value of £205k

Solar disinfection (SODIS) containers developed by BNU provide a practical, affordable and safe solution for easy access to hygienic drinking water. SODIS containers are also usable as a stage-two drinking water treatment technology during disaster relief operations suppliable through UNICEF procurement services.

The technology was initially developed under the WATERSPOUTT project in Africa, then further utilised and developed in the subsequent PANIWATER project to provide communities in peri-urban India with safe water. A BNU-developed educational programme ensured that technologies developed through the programmes are adopted and provide

safe, drinkable water to the target communities at risk of deprivation.

The work undertaken at BNU for WATERSPOUTT and PANIWATER demonstrated the clear impacts of clean water on health (in Ethiopia and Malawi), the economy (in Africa and India), sustainability (Africa), gender issues and education, demonstrating the potential for further potential research and economic impacts including exploitation models for SODIS vessels.

Monitoring hydrological status of complex upland heath communities using canopy conductance and thermal imaging: research value of £45k

In partnership with Queensland University of Technology, Earth, Environment and Biological Sciences, BNU is working on a project with the aim of identifying a remote sensible signal for water deficit in the canopy of upland heath vegetation. This project uses small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for remote sensing, providing complete coverage quickly and without physical impact on the areas of interest. Numerous projects have developed remote sensing tools for monitoring vegetation changes in areas with limited, sensitive or dangerous access employing visible and near-infra red spectra to identify green vegetation and bare ground. However, these methods are less practical for upland heath and swamp vegetation, as they are composed of predominantly perennial species that may be able to tolerate periods of drought.

European Cloud Computing and Internet of Things: research value of £35k

BNU is supporting and delivering the European Cloud Computing and Internet of Things (CC+IoT) learning programmes and excellence in teaching and skills development that tackle skills gaps and mismatches through innovative practices supported by digital platforms. This project developed innovative, modern and easy-to-implement learning and practising modules in the areas of CC+IoT, which have applicability within the Industry 4.0 area at the Vocational Education Training (VET)

Schools of IT and Universities.

HE’s digital carbon footprint derived from e-learning: research value of £20k

During the pandemic, online education was widely used to replace traditional education all over the world. There is a lack of empirical studies on whether and to what extent the change of an education model can reduce carbon emissions. Taking UK and Spanish universities as cases, BNU and the Open University constructed a model that calculates the impact of online education in higher education on carbon emissions. The results show that - especially during this period - students have formed good online education habits and academics have developed online education abilities. This study also demonstrated that there is a close relationship between online education and carbon emissions. Thus, countries all over the world can further strengthen online education through institutional design and legislation in the following ways:

- increase the development of online education and greatly increasing the proportion of online teaching in non-degree education;

- comprehensively develop promotion of online education in nonpractical education and promote the use of online education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics non- (STEM) education, as well as the use of non-internship training education activities in STEM subjects;

- promote online education to partially replace traditional classroom teaching, improve the quality of course education, and reduce the energy consumption of offline education through methods such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs); and

- extend the range of use of online education in the education for international students to reduce the carbon emissions caused by cross-border mobility.

Healthcare workforce development projects

BNU has an outstanding track record in delivering professional practice workforce development, including the following projects funded by external agencies:

Examples of BNU’s work in partnership with Health Education England includes:

- Identification of prospects for advanced clinical practice in oncology, specifically reviewing therapeutic radiography.

- Third Sector Workforce: – Providing training to those who support people with learning disabilities or autism.

BNU has worked in partnership with Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust, funded by Health Education England, on the following projects:

- Practice Education Resource Project / Feasibility study for radiography.

- Exploring Advancing Clinical Practice (ACP) roles, and status and training needs of Independent Prescribers from a system wide perspective.

- Orthoptist CPD provision on Visual Processing Difficulties

Knowledge Exchange Framework Knowledge Exchange provides a means to ensure that BNU’s research is put to work on behalf of society, by pro-actively shaping the pathways from research to impact. Knowledge Exchange is an important contributor to BNU’s academic excellence and civic contribution priorities which are set out in the University’s Impact 2022 strategy. BNU strives to deliver impactful research and teaching that encourages the innovation, leadership and vision needed to help our community thrive.

Exposure to real world problems outside of academia through mutual knowledge exchange often leads to longer term impactful relationships and increases the impact of research.

Consultancy activity working with business and the community plays a key part in achieving our mission. We recognise and support creativity and entrepreneurship and, as sponsors

of Buckinghamshire New Business of the Year Award, we highlight how our civic role and responsibility is used more effectively as an agent to drive positive societal change.

BNU is a proud consortium member of the MedTech SuperConnector (MTSC) accelerator programme, led by Imperial College London, that provides funding, training, advice and access to industry networks. The MTSC allows Early Career Researchers to connect with peers from other academic institutions and facilitates the networking opportunities participants need to fast-track the translation of their MedTech research discoveries.

The MTSC programme is now on the sixth cohort of grant funding allocations and, as part of this cohort, BNU has received an MTSC award to support the development of a mobile application that captures professional development whilst promoting mental wellbeing and reflection. The work funded through the MTSC demonstrates the potential to transform the health and social care landscape through translating research into innovative medical technologies.

Oxford-Cambridge ARC Universities Group

Buckinghamshire New University is a proud member of the OxfordCambridge Arc Universities Group (AUG), a network of nine universities between Oxford and Cambridge, formed to foster collaboration, research, skills and innovation to support the economic growth of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc region. Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Braisby is a member of the AUG’s

Governing Board. The boards comprise senior representatives from the AUG who work together with government, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Growth Boards and business to deliver the Arc’s economic development goals and support growth, inclusivity and resilience across the region.

The forum of the AUG allows BNU to work together with the other eight Universities to share ideas, tackle problems and innovate for the future.

This innovation focus is particularly evident when considering the work of the AUG's working groups, which pool research expertise and capabilities located at individual universities and apply these to tackle global challenges. One of these groups is the OxfordCambridge Arc's Virtual Institute of Aviation (OCAVIA), which brings together five of the universities, including BNU, to work on the creation of a net zero aviation sector for the future.

Impact Centres

Four Impact Centres were established during the year to develop and accelerate the exploitation of BNU research and enterprise initiatives through increased engagement with key stakeholders. This in turn will demonstrate the impact of BNU's research on society in the UK, both socially and economically. Capitalising on REF2021 successes, the Impact Centres will spearhead our REF2027 submission.

The Impact Centres will make a valuable contribution to the University’s extensive expertise in health, wellbeing,

sustainability and education. By engaging academics with industry to develop novel solutions that can have an immediate and demonstrable impact in practice, the scholarship and research undertaken by these centres will be at the forefront of tackling societal issues.

The four impact centres are for the:

• Improvement of Health and Wellbeing;

• Enhancement of the Environment and Innovation;

• Enrichment of Culture and Identity; and

• Advancement of Learning.

Our Graduate School

BNU launched a university-wide Graduate School that lead to the delivery of an enhanced postgraduate programme for our diverse body of students, consolidating and integrating the research environment and culture across all disciplines and academic Schools to produce wellrounded early career researchers.

The Graduate School is a dynamic institutional hub, at the centre of which is a programme of events, research activities and training sessions. It brings together doctoral researchers, supervisors, and BNU’s Impact Centres to inspire and encourage high-quality innovation and fresh thinking and to foster collaborative research.

The Graduate School enriches BNU’s student experience by engaging students at every stage in the university research environment lifecycle, supporting their continuing professional development, and creating a forum for sharing and enhancing good practice.

Enterprise activities

The expansion of the University’s Research and Enterprise Directorate has led to increased external engagement within the local community, both with local businesses and institutions increasing our research impact, reputation and involvement within Buckinghamshire and the surrounding areas. BNU is now represented as members of various local Chambers of Commerce and engages with the Buckinghamshire unitary authority through a range of partnerships and projects to ensure that we actively utilise our academic expertise to engage and participate in ways that benefit our external partners.

BNU has been successful in two Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) applications in Round 2 this year having secured a total of £350k funding from Innovate UK. KTPs are collaborative projects between BNU, a UK business and a graduate and are part-funded by UK Research and Innovation through Innovate UK. The aim of a KTP is to generate profit for a business, while presenting an academic challenge. Knowledge transfer is key to KTP, setting it apart from traditional consultancy. Through collaboration, BNU creates new capabilities for local businesses by transferring knowledge for long-term profit generation.

The collaborations with the Schools of Business & Law and Art, Design & Performance will equip the business

partners with the capabilities to grow and develop innovative management solutions and disruptive products which are low cost, highly accessible and have lower gross margins than their incumbents in the market. The partnership research will develop a light engine that will use spectral output of light, biomedical engineering, and healthcare sciences to develop advances in emerging technologies to ease symptoms for individuals suffering debilitating conditions such as migraine, tinnitus and myopia. The partnership will create a unique market segment focused on the performance impacts obtainable from varying the projected spectral power distribution of a light source. The aim is to create a better light source with the potential to be protected by IP. The management Knowledge Transfer Partnership will equip the charity partner with the capabilities required to launch, manage, and continue to develop new commercial services, to increase surplus income which will sustain and extend the services the charity provides to core clients.

BNU is also actively involved in the development and delivery of Continuing Professional Development programmes. In 2022, BNU’s Aviation School partnered with a not-for-profit organisation called Resilient Pilot to run certified short courses on aviation resilience and sustainability, targeting aviation professionals that were heavily impacted by the pandemic.

Regeneration activities

BNU supports regeneration activity in the region with projects to support graduates’ start-ups and to provide know-how to SMEs in Buckinghamshire following a £1.2m investment from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Community (DHLUC), as part of the European Regional Development Fund Programme (ERDF).

The GLIDE programme seeks to increase entrepreneurship and stimulate the local economy by supporting small and local businesses during the economic recovery period following the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the use of knowledge, expertise, technology and research capabilities that already reside within BNU, the programme aims to help our graduates start their own businesses across a variety of industries, as well as to develop and enrich existing SMEs to develop their business and increase reach within the market.

GLIDE, supported by BNU academics, facilitated Creative Entrepreneurs Bootcamps, a Sustainable and Circular Economy Course, a Circular fashion course in collaboration with our Fashion School, and a Radical Collaboration Course that was attended by 95 local and nationwide young entrepreneurs.

All programmes and initiatives involve close working with BNU staff, alumni, BNU Students' Union and student success teams to ensure that everyone in our university community is made aware of these opportunities. The team also works closely with other community stakeholders such as Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce and Buckinghamshire Business First, to extend offers of support beyond the University’s walls.

The University’s two incubation hubs, a Healthtech hub in High Wycombe and a Digitech hub in Aylesbury, provide services for local businesses wanting office accommodation and business support. Created with funding from the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership, both centres offer short or longer-term desk or office rental which includes support from our entrepreneurin-residence and with access to BNU’s facilities and intellectual capital.

Teaching impact

We are proud to train the nurses; operating department practitioners; midwives, paramedics, social workers and police officers of the future, many of whom choose to stay on and work in the local area after graduation. All our graduates make a difference in the real world through their significant contribution to sectors and industries including design; music and film; sport; business and law; and aviation.

We provide a high-quality learning experience for all our students, and we have outlined in the Strategic Report the league table successes the University has achieved in 2021-22. The University’s rise into the top-10 for teaching quality among non-specialist providers in the Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023 is testament to the progress we have made, symbolising our proud history of offering employment focused and skills-based learning.

Applying knowledge in authentic work-related scenarios is a hallmark of every course at BNU. From day one, we encourage our students to focus on their future careers and to take advantage of the many opportunities to bolster their job prospects while they study. In partnership with BNU Students' Union, we do everything we can to ensure our students are well prepared to stand out in the highly competitive employment market when they graduate. It is why BNU graduates go on to be successful in their chosen careers, and we take great pride in all that they achieve.

We are also proud that our library offers optimum use of technologies in book and e-book acquisition and in our self-issue machines which use RFID technology for efficient book circulation. It is just one way in which BNU strives to provide our staff and students with access to learning resources and services in the most efficient way.

Supporting our students to succeed

• BNU’s aviation management degree students have been flying high this academic year thanks to the University’s mentoring programme that has matched more than 40 students with mentees from some of the largest international aviation companies. Current mentors mostly include our own alumni who work in a range of aviation professions including flight training, piloting, management and air traffic control. Their organisations include Emirates, British Airways, EasyJet, National Air Traffic Services, Gama Aviation and Heathrow Airport.

• As we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, our health and social care students continued to go above and beyond with our dedicated staff and local NHS Trusts supporting them every step of the way. Their efforts received external recognition with BNU shortlisted across five categories in the delayed Student Nursing Times Awards 2021 and four categories in the 2022 edition. These included Nursing Associate Trainee of the Year (2x), Student Nurse of the Year: Adult (2x), Student Nurse of the Year: Children (2x); Student Nurse of the Year: Mental Health, Educator of the Year, and Teaching Innovation of the Year. One of our secondyear students was also selected as Nursing Times’ Student Editor.

• After joining a small number of universities in achieving Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) Dual Career Accreditation in 2021, our 34 student-athletes continue to thrive and benefit from sports science and medicine support. One talented Fine Art student-athlete secured bronze in the 100m hurdles at the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Outdoor Athletics Championships 2021-22. The same athlete became South of England champion for 60m hurdles and come second in the U20 Nationals. Other sports represented by our TASS athletes include fencing, gymnastics, basketball and football.

• As a proud placement-focused provider in various courses, our students benefit from the many partnerships we have grown in our recent history, but we also support them to secure their placement hours through other innovative routes. A glowing example from 2021-22 was our sports therapy students giving up their weekends to volunteer at the London Marathon and Buckinghamshire’s biggest charity bike ride, Tour De Vale. The students supported the competitors who were fundraising for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and WheelPower, the national charity for wheelchair sport which provides opportunities for disabled people to play sport and lead healthy active lives

Sustainability

At BNU, we take our sustainability responsibilities seriously and are committed to achieving a sustainable future. Our approach to sustainability goes beyond the traditional focus on environmental sustainability: we aspire to improve environmental, social, and economic sustainability both across the University, and the wider community.

The University’s upcoming Sustainability Strategy emphasises the need to take a holistic approach to our social, environmental, and economic impacts. Our efforts will focus on improving the learning and working experience for our students, our staff, and our partners. It is important to us that we not only reduce our carbon emissions, but we make our buildings and campuses wonderful places to live, work and study.

As an institution, we have an enormous capacity to encourage others to improve. We will lead by example through the development of systematic and thoughtful goals and targets. Our direct social and environmental impacts are only a small part of our total impacts. In recognition of this, we will work with our partners and communities to promote social value, environmental good practice and the progress against the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

We are proud to be one of the founding members of the Nature Positive Universities Pledge. Within the next year, we anticipate developing our biodiversity baseline and developing our initial plans to improve our outdoor spaces.

It is increasingly clear just how important it is for all our staff and students to be familiar with the principles of sustainable development. We have the opportunity to help give our staff and students the tools to make the world a better place and the confidence to know that together our BNU community can achieve great things.

Our sustainability principles are to:

Continually improve the sustainability of our sites.

Enable, empower and support the BNU community to tackle their sustainability impacts.

Provide the education, advancement dissemination and application of sustainable development.

Maximise the impact of BNU's environmental sustainability activities at local, regional, national and international levels through collaboration, partnership and communications.

Become a leader across the HE sectors in terms of environmental sustainability.

Projects we have undertaken to reduce BNU’s carbon footprint:

Net zero carbon emissions

BNU is one of 1,050 universities and colleges from 68 countries that have signed up to the global Race to Zero pledge to half their emissions by 2030 and reach net-zero as soon as possible, impacting over 10 million students worldwide. The initiative is led by EAUC (The Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education) and Second Nature with support from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Progress towards achieving carbon neutrality is attributed to enhanced campuses, energy savings, responsible waste management, upcycling, and environmental research that has local and international benefits.

We commissioned a thorough property condition assessment of all our sites. This information is being used to develop our Decarbonisation Plan which is due for release in 2023.

Though the carbon released by our buildings is a substantial part of our overall carbon footprint, it is by no means all of it. We have begun the process of measuring our wider Scope 3 emissions which produced by our indirect actions, such as our supply and value chains.

Decarbonising our operations

We are developing our plans to decarbonise our operations and hit net zero emissions by 2030. Our decarbonisation strategy is still in development, but it follows these key principles:

• Upgrade our buildings to make them more comfortable and more energy efficient.

• Invest in low-carbon heating systems and heat recovery systems.

• Change to a fully traceable renewable energy contract when our current contract expires.

Nature Positive Pledge

In recognition of the importance of green space and biodiversity, we have commissioned the development of a new garden on our High Wycombe campus to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. This garden will provide staff, students and local residents with a place to reflect and enjoy nature on our High Wycombe campus.

In addition, we launched a review of green spaces across our Wycombe campus, with the aspiration to find ways to improve the student and staff experience through the improvement of our outdoor facilities.

We are proud to become founding members of the Nature Positive Universities Pledge. As part of this pledge, we have committed to reducing our ecological impact and improving biodiversity across the globe.

Our procurement and sustainability teams are developing a sustainable procurement strategy through which we will ensure that our entire supply chain shares our values. Wherever possible, we will procure goods and services from social enterprises.

We are working with an employeeowned architectural practice to develop a green estates masterplan. Our masterplan will help us to identify and develop ways to make our High Wycombe site a more nature-focused location with places for staff and students to relax and socialise outdoors. It is important that our partners share our values and motivations. We are proud to be working with a certified B-Corp that shares our attitudes to sustainability and the public good. A B-Corp is independently certified as a business that meets a high standard of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. Over time, we aspire to only work with organisations who share our motivations and values.

Our New Usage scheme, which re-uses and recycles items left by students in our halls of residence at the end of year, continues to thrive thanks to the hard work of the Chaplaincy and Students’ Union. We are proud that the scheme is a finalist for a Green Gowns Award, and we look forward to the awards ceremony on 8 November.

• We have increased the level of planting across our High Wycombe campus, prioritising the use of plants that attract bees and butterflies, and those that stimulate the senses.

Responsible waste management

We manage and dispose of our waste responsibly.

• Recycling facilities are available for paper, card, plastics, metal, electrical equipment, batteries and mattresses.

• We are developing new and stretching targets for waste management. Our efforts will focus on the reduction of waste and increasing recycling.

Sustainable Operations

• The solar panels fitted across three of our buildings continue to generate free clean energy. Last year, our panels generated 126,000 kWh of energy, enough to power 44 households and save 25 tonnes of CO2 each year.

• Our Estates and Facilities teams have been using electric vehicles for some years now, and we will continue to support the use of electric vehicles by our staff and are exploring opportunities to reduce our transport emissions.

• Our decarbonisation plans prioritise the reduction of energy demand through making improvements to insulation. By improving the insulation of our buildings, we can improve employee comfort and reduce our carbon footprint.

• We are working to reduce our carbon emissions further still by migrating from gas to low & zero carbon heating systems.

• We have reviewed and updated our minimum energy efficiency requirements for new heating, cooling and lighting systems.

• We are working on food recycling at our campuses and halls of residence, and coffee cup recycling for our cafes. Our discount for using reusable cups will be reinstated following a temporary COVID pause.

• Wherever possible, we procure used furniture that is in good condition to prevent good quality materials from going to landfill.

• We work in partnership with a local charity wood merchant to recycle products as outdoor furniture across our estate.

• Waste that cannot be recycled is sent to a waste-to-energy plant where possible, and to landfill only as a last resort.

• We have removed more than 5,000 plastic straws from our bars and cafes.

Community and civic engagement

The impact of COVID-19 and rising inflation has placed hundreds of thousands more people in our local communities into poverty. As part of our commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Accord, BNU has continued its efforts to end poverty in all its forms.

We have built on our efforts during COVID-19 which saw BNU Students' Union provide free school meals to local children as part of Marcus Rashford’s campaign to end child hunger and the University’s Give to Refresh initiative.

Following a debate we hosted on the local food poverty crisis in Wycombe, BNU has continued to support the community’s efforts in tackling food poverty. We are working closely with Wycombe Food Hub on various initiatives aimed at supporting our students, staff and the local community in response to the costof-living crisis. Our Students’ Union organises fortnightly volunteering at local foodbank One Can Trust. One of our Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) students has also been working closely with health and wellbeing community organisation Khepera Org on a programme aimed at living healthier. Our Master’s student specifically supported with online education on ‘360 health’ with a special emphasis on sleep and ways to optimise sleep hygiene. Followup personal health consultations were also organised, with positive feedback received by participants about their lifestyle improvements.

After a successful Give to Refresh initiative in 2020 before the pandemic, which saw BNU staff and students join forces with the national Beauty Banks charity to help local people living in hygiene poverty by donating more than 1,000 items to 890 local families, we are currently preparing to reignite this as part of the University’s response to the cost-of-living crisis.

Volunteering our time to help others

The University’s volunteering policy gives all staff two days’ paid leave each year to support charities of their choice. Charities which continue to benefit from this initiative include the Samaritans, Hounds for Heroes, One Can Trust, Blood Bikes, and local hospices. BNU Students' Union also promotes volunteering to students and a total of 16,058 volunteering hours were logged in 2021-22. We are proud of all that our University community does to make a difference in our local communities.

Providing financial support for students in need

We pride ourselves on being a friendly and inclusive university that aims to ensure every student has an equal chance to reach their potential at BNU and beyond. In 2021-22, we shared £500,000 between more than 500 students who were in need through several of our bursaries, which did not need to be repaid. Highlights include:

• By not increasing our rents back to pre-Covid levels in 2021-22 academic year, we have kept rent levels low and affordable, and have effectively saved our students on average £1,159 in 2021-22. We gave £258k to 592 students from the Bucks Student Success Bursary, which is for students from low-income families or high deprivation areas. Students can receive up to £1,000 to support their studies or living costs.

• We gave £86k to 94 students from the BNU Hardship Fund, which provides discretionary financial assistance for students to help them access and remain in higher education, such as meeting specific course and living costs that cannot

be met by other sources of support. The fund can provide emergency payments for unexpected financial crises. Payments are usually given as grants, which do not have to be repaid, of up to £3k per year of study. We also offer interest-free loans to students on a short-term basis.

• We partnered with the John Smith’s student store to offer all new first year full-time UK/Home students £120 during the September 2022 and February 2023 enrolment period to buy goods specific to their study needs at better value for money than other online stores. In 2021-22, 1201 students spent more than £87k using their entitlement, which is available throughout their degrees at BNU.

• We gave £1,000 to each of our 19 care-experienced students from the Care Leavers Bursary (£19,000) and to each of our six estranged students from the Estranged Student Bursary (£6,000), and one student from the Roman Gypsy Traveller, Showman and Boater Bursary (£1,000) in addition to guaranteeing them accommodation all year round.

• As we emerged from the pandemic during 2021-22, a total of £14,950 was shared between seven students who we supported while in quarantine. A further £2,560 was spent COVID-19 testing for 29 students.

• We also provided short-term loans totalling £31,150 for 34 students to cover a temporary crisis, such as food, travel or accommodation payments, while statutory student funding is delayed.

We are proud to play our part in tackling local forms of poverty and inequality

Financial support in 2021-22

In 2021-22, we awarded

£5 k

SAVED

our students in BNU halls of residence £1,159 each

to 500+ students inneed throu gh bursaries.

by not increasing our rents back to pre-COVID levels.

Gave £258k to 592 students from the Bucks Student Success Bursary, for students from low-income families or high deprivation areas.

Gave £86k to 94 students from the BNU Hardship Fund, which helps students to meet specific course and living costs that cannot be met by other sources of support.

AWARDED £1,000

1201 students spent more than £87k using their John Smith’s student store entitlement of £120, given to first year full-time UK/Home students to buy goods specific to their study.

each to 19 care-experienced students from the Care Leavers Bursary. AWARDED £1,000

from the Roman Gypsy Traveller, Showman and Boater (RGTSB Bursary).

Supported 7 students in quarantine as we emerged from the pandemic with a total of £14,950. 29 students received £2,560 for COVID-19 testing.

each to 6 estranged students from the Estranged Student Bursary.

34 students received short-term loans totalling £31,150 helping them to cover food, travel or accommodation payments while statutory student funding was delayed.

Opening our doors to the community

We hosted two free exhibitions in 2021-22 to showcase the varied talents of our staff and students to the High Wycombe community, and to celebrate two cornerstones of British society and culture: Arts and Design; and our Armed Forces. Hosted by our School of Art, Design and Performance for the first time since before the pandemic, the end of year show showcased innovation and creativity in abundance as textile, design, and fashion students wowed the community with displays including: a biomimicry airport championing a more sustainable aviation industry; female power suits inspired by male dominance in 1980s Afghanistan; and the conversion of a derelict arcade into a climate museum and community hub.

We also hosted a first-of-its-kind Armed Forces Week portrait exhibition to celebrate Buckinghamshire’s rich military history and show our support for local residents who have served since the 20th century. The exhibition showcased 40 stories on: the role of Buckinghamshire and its residents both during and post-wartimes; the contributions of BNU’s serving and ex-serving military colleagues, students and alumni; and the University’s history in providing education for Armed Forces personnel from its origins more than 130 years ago to the present day. The display also incorporated a Windrush pop-up exhibition, covering four individual stories of men and women from the Caribbean who settled in Wycombe post-World War Two. This collaboration with Wycombe Museum and charity Near Neighbours came as the UK marked Windrush Day on 22 June.

NDACA

We are proud to host the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA), the first physical location of its kind dedicated to Britain’s disability arts movement which features more than 3,500 pieces of artwork. Our commitment to NDACA is a symbol of our overall commitment to supporting achievement among disabled people.

Supporting BNU Students' Union

Buckinghamshire New University is the principal funding partner of BNU Students' Union, an independent educational charity with a mission to make life better for students at BNU. We invest in the Students’ Union because we believe it is important to support their work, not only in supporting and developing our students, but in building links between their members and the local community; charity fundraising; volunteering; citizenship and endeavours to promote fair trade, sustainability, social inclusion and environmental and ecological good practice.

In 2021-22 BNU Students' Union received a funding grant of £1.6m from the University. This enables the Students’ Union’s to run its unique Big Deal initiative on behalf of the University so that all students, irrespective of their income, can access recreation, sports and skills development opportunities for free. We are proud to help remove any financial barriers to our students participating fully in all aspects of university life at BNU.

BNU provides £1.6m funding for the Big Deal so that students, irrespective of their income, can access recreation, sports and skills development opportunities for free.

Outreach and widening participation

We are proud of everyone in our diverse and inclusive University community and work tirelessly to break down barriers to ensure that everyone can benefit from the transformative education we provide. Some 17% of our students come from postcodes with lower participation rates in higher education, and 32% are from the most deprived areas.

Our outreach work with schools

Last year we continued our work with local schools and colleges as part of our commitment to widening participation (WP) amongst those groups typically under-represented in higher education. Despite the challenges raised by COVID-19, we were delighted that almost 3,500 school pupils engaged across 217 BNU events.

28% of the young people we worked with during the year would be firstgeneration university students; about one in three (32%) were members of the BAME community; and 5% identified as disabled. Over half (55%) students lived in areas with low participation to university (POLAR4 Q1 and Q2) and 33% lived in high deprivation areas. In addition, we welcomed students from the Probation Service, Young Carers, 45 children from service families and 77 care-experienced students. Almost a quarter (23%) of students received free school meals.

With the COVID-19 recovery in progress we were able to increase our support to students, delivering more than 1,200 hours of engaging virtual, inperson and blended activities throughout the year, including taster days, careers days and careers advice and guidance sessions across groups from Years 8 to 13. This activity culminated in two summer residential programmes for students interested in sport and young carers. We are committed to playing our part to respond to the increasing emphasis by government and schools on the importance of careers advice and attainment raising. It is important

to us to help students in their career choices and illustrate the pathways available to them, whether or not this includes higher education.

Our Futures Days campus visits are aimed at Year 9 students, offering a first-hand experience of university life to encourage them to consider higher education, irrespective of their background. Last year we held 15 Futures Days which were offered to all local schools which meet our WP criteria. For older age groups, we support both their move into further education and their application to higher education, as well as offering parents’ information evenings and HE workshops. We actively seek to recruit Student Ambassadors who attended our target WP schools to provide relatable role models to the school pupils with whom we work.

We have taken forward the lessons of the pandemic and strengthened our new programmes such as the eightweek Fashion Futures initiative where academics in our Fashion course team provided subject-specific widening participation support. We also organised a virtual Q&A session to help parents support their children in transitioning from school to higher education, and supported whole year groups with interview skills and training.

BNU is a partner in Study Higher, part of the National Collaborative Outreach Programme, which targets students from areas where progression to higher education is low. BNU takes part in joint ventures with our partners – Oxford Brookes University, The University of Reading and The University of Oxford.

As part of our widening participation work, we invited local school pupils to help us celebrate Black History Month by joining a Q&A session with inspiring Black professionals in our organisation. The pupils asked the panel about actions they could take to combat racism and shared personal experiences.

Over the past five years, including 2021-22, our Student Recruitment, Widening Participation and Outreach teams have actively worked with University Technical College Aylesbury to deliver activities, including campusbased tours and workshops; course tasters in animation and business; virtual CV and personal statement support; and virtual mock interviews with written feedback on careers days.

Celebrating Black History Month

We once again marked Black History Month to celebrate the history of Black people and the immense contribution they and other ethnic minority groups make to our University and the society we live in today. Throughout October 2021, staff and students held and attended a series of events held by the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Staff Network that recognised the positive contributions and achievements of ethnic minority communities. The Network is responsible for raising awareness and promoting opportunities to achieve greater race equality at BNU.

BNU’s Black History Month 2022 featured informal discussions on critical race theory and the social construct of Whiteness, while a new Beyond Black History Month book club was launched and a panel Q&A event for current students was hosted by four established BNU alumni. BNU' Students Union held activities and events including film nights and receptions. Our Network also visited a local school to raise awareness of Black History Month and to discuss the importance of race equality.

BNU continues to make great strides in addressing racial inequalities and creating an inclusive culture and environment where individuals can thrive, irrespective of their race or ethnicity. We have pledged our commitment to the principles of the Advance Higher Education Race Equality Charter (REC) by improving the representation, progression and success of staff and students from different ethnic backgrounds within higher education last year. We are now midway through applying for REC status, having developed a thorough action plan that is guided by the above principles, while playing an important role in addressing racial inequalities in our local communities.

External engagement

Our external engagement work is reflected in and driven by our University strategy, Impact 2022, and the imperatives it contains for the University to become better connected and more permeable, ever more student and customer focused, business-oriented, strategically aligned and, above all, impactful. An essential aspect of the strategy was for the University to build strategic partnerships and alliances, especially locally and throughout our region, but also further afield as well.

To support our strategic intent to expand the healthcare offer, BNU secured funds from the OfS which has enabled the refurbishment of the third floor at our Aylesbury campus. This development will enable the University to establish a Centre of Excellence in Digital Healthcare. The state-of-the-art teaching facilities include an immersive virtual reality room. The audio-visual capabilities enable different immersive environments to be generated, for example public spaces, acute hospital wards, operating theatres and community home settings. The functionality also allows for interactive screen engagement with patient scenarios and data. This exciting teaching and learning innovation not only brings efficiency in space usage but also provides opportunities for inter professional learning. It is anticipated that the changes to the third floor will enable increased external engagement, particularly with the local Buckinghamshire NHS Trust and Buckinghamshire Council. For example, students linking into digitally enabled live case conferences, co-delivery of staff training and the hosting of community health and wellbeing events.

Helping to drive the skills agenda

The University’s improved engagement with the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership (BLEP) reflects our commitment to help drive the skills agenda for the county and meet the needs of the local employers and the region. We also work closely with the unitary Buckinghamshire Council to support them in progressing many of their ambitions.

We play our part in responding to the needs of the Skills for Jobs white paper in partnership with local FE colleges, the UTC, as well as primary and secondary schools. BNU is also proud to belong to the Arc Universities Group of nine universities that is driving forwards the research and education needs of the South of England.

We provide incubation spaces at our High Wycombe and Aylesbury campuses, enabling entrepreneurs and business start-ups to work flexibly and at low cost.

Our executive team’s contribution

External engagement is deeply reflected in the activities of the senior team as they lead the delivery of Impact 2022 and its commitment to strengthen engagement with key strategic partners.

The University is a member of GuildHE, one of two officially recognised representative bodies for higher education which enable the voices of universities to be heard, the other being Universities UK, of which the University is also an active member, through the contributions of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Braisby. The University is also a member of the All Party Parliamentary Universities Group.

The Vice-Chancellor has a number of external roles which help ensure the University’s voice influences national and regional policy. During 2021-22, Professor Braisby served on the Universities UK senior leaders group to produce an update to its Closing the Gap report, two years on, and which was published by UUK in July 2022. In 2021-22, Professor Braisby joined the joint UUK and GuildHE Climate Action Group, and continued his role as a member of the Executive Board of GuildHE, and also as a member of UUK’s Audit and Risk, and Resources Committees.

Within the region, the Vice-Chancellor joins other senior leaders of higher education institutions as a member of the West London HEI Vice-Chancellor’s group, a group aimed at ensuring higher education plays a significant role in the economic regeneration of West London, a region especially badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also serves as a member of the Arc Universities Group Governing Board.

Withing the county, the Vice-Chancellor became a member of Buckinghamshire Council’s Levelling Up Programme Board in 2022, and continues his engagement with Buckinghamshire Culture as a member of its Board of Trustees and with Buckinghamshire Council as a member of its Strategic Partners Board.

The Vice-Chancellor is also a member of the Learning Analytics and Innovation Board sponsored by Civitas Learning Inc. and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the University College of Estate Management.

BNU is part of the Heathrow Skills Partnership, helping to adapt and reskill the existing workforce and create a pipeline of talent not only to benefit Heathrow but also the wider infrastructure industry. Our Commercial and Business Development Director, Ian Harper, has been a member of Buckinghamshire College Group’s governing body since 2014, maintaining strong working relationships between the two institutions such that our offers are complementary and that college students have a seamless progression route to their local university if they choose to progress to higher education.

Working with NHS Trusts and social care providers

The University has very strong links with NHS Trusts and social care providers in the region. Our expansion of the health and social care programmes we offer, and the establishment of the Institute for Health and Social Care (IHSC), will help to address the health needs of the county, and the UK more widely, by playing our part to shape and support the health and social care agenda in the region and across the UK. The strategic partnering and leadership shown by the University has helped to establish the Buckinghamshire Health and Social Care Academy, which will have a key link into the newly established BOB (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West) Integrated Care Board.

The North-West London Health Academy, which the University is a member of, is being developed and will be linked into the North-West London Integrated Care System. As part of the government’s health and social care reforms, regional Integrated Care Systems (ICS) have been created, each having an Integrated Care Board (ICB) which is the statutory organisation responsible for bringing the NHS together with local authorities to:

• further the integration of health and care;

• improve the health of local populations;

• transform the quality of care provided; and

• ensure they are sustainable within allocated funding.

In addition to the ICB engagement, we are continuing to work with FE colleges and healthcare service providers to co-create and deliver, relevant work-based training programmes and meet the health needs of the region, demonstrating our commitment to being an anchor institution within our county and the towns in which our campuses are based.

Providing dual career development for our student

athletes

The University is proud to work with BNU Students' Union, Swim England, and Wycombe District Swimming Club, as a national performance centre for swimming to promote dual career development for athletes. The University is also accredited by Sport England and the Football Association Women’s Super League Academy programme (linked with Reading Women’s FC Academy) to deliver sport science services and support players’ academic and sporting aspirations. In 2021, BNU joined a small number of UK universities in achieving Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) Dual Career Accreditation in recognition of the support and reassurance we provide to help talented athletes to reach their potential in education alongside achieving success in their sport.

Supporting service families and employment for veterans

BNU is amongst 140 employers nationwide to receive the prestigious ‘Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award’ from the Ministry of Defence. The award celebrates the University’s outstanding support for those who serve, veterans and their families and is recognised as the ‘highest badge of honour’. The University’s focus is to develop career-ready graduates and support military students with programmes led by employed veterans and reservists. BNU is a committed supporter of military and veteran employability, and of the families of service personnel who are often subject to job and school disruption due to postings around the UK and abroad.

BNU has a significant number of former service personnel in full time employment, teaching on various courses and partnership activities, and is proactive in its engagement with students to develop links with, and understanding of, military opportunities. The University employs serving military personnel as associate lecturers and within affiliate parties such as Oxford University Air Squadron and Oxford University Officer Training Corps, both of which recruit from BNU’s student body.

In our Access and Participation Plan submitted to the OfS, we emphasise a commitment to supporting service families through events for children/students from military backgrounds. External engagement includes membership of the Buckinghamshire Armed Forces Covenant Civilian and Military Partnership Board. BNU also works with the British Legion, RAFA, NHS and various charities including Hounds for Heroes.

Wider advocacy continues with BNU’s ongoing membership of The Service Children’s Progression (SCiP) Alliance: a partnership of organisations focused on improving outcomes for children from military families. The University is working collaboratively in a government-funded outreach project working with universities, schools and colleges in Oxfordshire, Swindon, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. BNU also offers dedicated programmes for military personnel such as the highly successful BA (Hons) Organisational Capability Development and BSc (Hons) Strength and Conditioning Armed Forces. Both programmes are designed to be cost viable opportunities for military personnel to gain education and career enhancement.

Strategic risks

During 2021-22 the University was subject to the ongoing conditions of OfS registration, and also adheres to the Committee of University Chairs (CUC) Higher Education Code of Governance. As such the governing body must ensure institutional financial health including adopting effective systems of control and risk management which promote value for money, meet mandatory audit requirements, and produce accurate and quality assured institutional data.

In order to ensure that the strategy and its key performance indicators can be achieved, the University’s Council also identifies and closely monitors business risks. Members of our executive team provide regular briefings to the Audit Committee and to the University’s Council, allowing Governors to monitor the assessment, mitigation and responses to these risks.

In 2021-22, the process for risk assessment was maintained following the substantial assurance that internal auditors expressed in their review of the risk management framework in 2017-18. The audit concluded that our processes of informing the assessment of risk at the strategic level through monitoring at a local level provided substantial assurance that associated risks material to the achievement of the University’s objectives are adequately managed and controlled. In 2021-22 our review of these processes has concluded that they continue to operate effectively but both the structure of risk management and the content of our strategic risk register will be reviewed for the new University strategy.

Further details on our risk management procedures and policies are set out in the statement of corporate governance.

Strategic risks are listed below and each can be classified in one or more of the four key risk themes we have identified: financial sustainability; compliance; reputation; and organisational effectiveness.

Failure to control costs, grow income and invest in the future

Failure to deliver student success outcomes, including retention and completion targets

Failure to recruit to student number targets

Failure to meet income targets and delivery of strategy for growth in research and enterprise activity

Failure to offer academic programmes that deliver key graduate attributes, employment skills and experience opportunities

Failure to meet academic standards

Failure to comply with sector and statutory regulations

Failure to manage the quality and the scale of partnership activity

Failure to grow research and enterprise activity

Failure to deliver human resources strategy

Failure to deliver fit-for-purpose digital systems and technology

Failure to deliver value for money, high quality services and facilities

Failure to ensure the safety and security of staff and students

Group surplus of £7.6m (2020-21 £3.4m). Total income for the Group is reported at £169.0m (2020-21 £151.5m), an increase of 11.6% on last year.

Financial review

The financial statements presented by the University’s Council comprise the consolidated results of the University and its subsidiary companies (the Group). The Group companies undertake activities which, for legal or commercial reasons, are more appropriately channelled through a limited company. Where possible subsidiary companies pay their taxable profits to the University under the Gift Aid scheme.

Key Financial Highlights

The results for the group for the year ended 31 July 2022 are summarised below:

2021-22 £m 2020-21 £m Income 169.0 151.5 Expenditure 161.5 148.0 Surplus / (Deficit) for the year 7.6 3.4 Cash at bank 54.8 37.2

Results for the Year Ended 31

The Group

July 2022

Results for the 2021-22 financial year are a consolidated group surplus of £7.6m (2020-21 £3.4m), exceeding the budget submitted to the Office for Students (OfS). In the year total income for the Group is reported at £169.0m (2020-21 £151.5m), an increase of 11.6% on last year. Total income from full time Home and EU students of £132.5m (2020-21 £126.2m) an increase of 5.0% on last year. During the year the University has continued to see increases in income from its key partnerships - primarily a result of the two largest key partners and the roll through of income from prior year growth. The majority of the year on year growth however has come from an increase in the University’s International student numbers, resulting in an increase in income of £7.0m. Figure 1 shows a breakdown of the Group’s income by category, 90% of income comes from tuition fees with the remaining 10% coming from a variety of smaller sources.

Total expenditure for the Group is £161.5m (2020-21 £148.0m), an increase of 9.1% on last year. The most significant change from last year is shown in note 7 - academic related expenditure of £119.2m (2020-21 £109.8m) an increase of 8.6%. Pay costs increased by £5.3m compared to last year, the major drivers being £1.4m relating to pension provisions and £2.5m resulting from additional activity and inflationary increases. Other significant operating expense year on year increases include increased maintenance costs of £1m and the fees of overseas recruitment agents of £3.1m in the year which were a result of the growth of our international students.

Total expenditure on staff costs of £40.8m (2020-21 £35.8m) now represents 24.1% of total income (excluding restructuring costs), a slight increase from last year’s figure of 23.6%. Other operating expenses for the year of £112.2m (2020-21 £103.2m) are 66.4% of income, a slight decrease from the previous year’s 68.2%.

Figure 2 shows a breakdown of the Group’s expenditure, demonstrating that 74.0% is related to academic activities with the largest part of the remaining 26.0% being incurred on administrative and central services.

41 Buckinghamshire New University | Financial Statements 2021-22

0.6% 1.1% 0.3% 0.2% <0.1% 90.3%

90.3%

Tuition Fees - 90.3%

Consolidated University Income 2021-22 Consolidated University Expenditure 2021-22

Residences & Catering - 2.9%

Education Contracts and Apprenticeships - 0.6% Other Income - 0.7%

Funding Body Grants - 3.9%

Missenden Abbey Conference Centre - 1.1%

Residences & Catering - 2.9%

Education Contracts and Apprenticeships - 0.6% Other Income - 0.7%

Figure 2: Consolidated Group Expenditure 2021-22

26.2% 73.8%

Related - 73.8%

Academic Related - 73.8%

Missenden Abbey Conference Centre - 1.1%

2.9% 0.7% 11.5% 26.2% 73.8%

Research Grants & Contracts - 0.2%

Student Union & Nurses Reimbursements - 0.3%

3.9%

Government Grants - <0.1%

Exceptional Gain on Acquisition of Subsidiary - <0.1%

Research Grants & Contracts - 0.2%

Student Union & Nurses Reimbursements - 0.3%

Government Grants - <0.1%

Exceptional Gain on Acquisition of Subsidiary - <0.1% Other Investment Income - <0.1%

- 11.5%

Central Services

9.7% 3.7% 2.5% 3.7% 3.1% 1.6% <0.1%

Interest Payable - 1.6%

Research Grants & Contracts

Administration & Central Services - 11.5%

Depreciation - 3.7%

Other Expenses - 2.5% Premises - 3.7%

Residences, Catering & Conferences - 3.1%

Interest Payable - 1.6%

The University

The University generated a surplus in the 2021-22 financial year of £8.0m – a £3.3m improvement on the previous year’s £4.7m surplus. The income for the year was £167.3m; an improvement of £17.1m over the previous year’s income of £150.2m. Expenditure for the year was £159.2m - an increase of £13.7m year on year – reflecting the costs associated with the increased level of partnership activity and International student recruitment. Expenditure for the year excluding the costs of tuition for students studying with partners was £78.9m, an increase of £11.5m over the previous year’s £67.4m

Missenden Abbey Limited

Missenden Abbey Limited is a 100% owned subsidiary and, in prior years, provided a centre for adult education, conferences and management training. In 2021-22 the strategy for the company changed to providing a high-quality hotel service as well as providing educational services in the hotel industry. As the Covid-19 related restrictions on the hospitality industry lifted at the end of 2020-21, the company’s performance improved slightly on a year on year basis. Income for the year was £1.9m, an increase of £1.2m compared to the previous year’s £0.7m. Expenditure increased year on year by £1.1m from £1.2m in 2020-21 to £2.3m in 202122, reflecting the increased activity of the company. The deficit in the year is £0.4m (£0.5m deficit in 2021-22).

Pension Schemes

In this year’s Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure (SOCIE) the requirement to fund the administrative expenses of the Local Government Pension Scheme in the year and the net interest cost has seen an inyear charge of £1.0m (2020-21 £0.9m).

The charge to staff costs in the year due to movement in the pension provisions is £4.5m (2020-21 £3.4m) and can be seen in note 6.

The actuarial adjustment in respect of pension schemes forms part of the total comprehensive income for the year. The actuarial gain which the University has recognised in this financial year is £46.3m (£6.6m in 2020-21) and is a reflection of the changes in financial assumptions and investment performance, see figure 4 for more detail.

The majority of academic staff are members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, a multi-employer scheme accounted for on a defined contribution basis.

The University has a small number of employees who are members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. As the scheme is in deficit and a funding plan agreed, section 28 of FRS102 now requires employers to recognise a liability for the contributions payable to close the funding gap. As at 31 July 2022 the balance sheet provision is £0.34m (£0.12m at 31 July 2021).

Full details of the pension schemes liabilities can be seen in note 26.

Capital Projects

During the year £6.3m of capital additions were made, the majority of which were to enhance the healthcare education provision at the Aylesbury campus and to start the refresh of the High Wycombe campus. Further investment was made in network upgrades, improvements in cyber security and investment in paramedicine simulation technology to support courses offered.

73.8%

Cash Flow

3.7% 3.1% 1.6% <0.1%

The cash balance (including short-term deposits) of £54.8m represents a £17.6m improvement over the previous year’s balance of £37.2m, demonstrating the University’s cash generative position with a £23.5m net cash inflow from operating activities. Additionally, the University’s liquidity days have improved to 253 days as at the end of the financial year compared to 206 days as at the end of the 2020-21 financial year. External debt of £0.7m has been repaid leaving the total amount of debt outstanding at £20.3m (£21.0m in 2020-21).

Residences, Catering & Conferences - 3.1% Interest Payable - 1.6% Research Grants & Contracts - <0.1%

An analysis of Group cash balances versus borrowings over the last four years is shown on the next chart. The excess of the cash balance over borrowings continues to increase, being £40.0m at 31 July 2022 compared to £21.0m at 31 July 2021.

Figure

Group Cash Borrowings - £m

60

50

40

26.2% 20

30

3: Group Cash & Borrowings

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Cash & Current Investments Borrowings

Cash and current investments comprise £54.8 of cash and £5.0m of investments.

The debt-to-income ratio for the Group has improved to 12% at 31 July 2022 from 14% at 31 July 2021:

180,000

160,000

140,000

120,000

100,000

2021-22 £m 2020-21 £m

Debt 20.3 21.0 Income 169.0 151.5 Ratio 12% 14%

During and at the end of the year the University achieved all of the banking covenants on the institution.

80,000

60,000

Academic Related - 73.8% Administration & Central Services - 11.5% Depreciation - 3.7% Other Expenses - 2.5% Premises - 3.7% Assets Liabilities Discount rate

40,000

11.5% 0 0% 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

3.5%

3.0%

2.5%

2.0%

1.5%

1.0%

0.5%

4.0% 20,000

Cash & Current Investments Borrowings 44 Financial Statements 2021-22 | Buckinghamshire New University

180,000 50

Balance Sheet and Reserves

20

160,000 40

140,000 30

120,000

100,000

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

The balance sheet shows an increase in net assets since 31 July 2021 of £53.8m. This is primarily driven by the increase in the cash balance to £54.8m from last year’s balance of £37.2m and the reduction in the pension provision requirement of £40.7m compared to the prior year due to the reduction in the deficit position shown in the actuarial valuation of the LGPS scheme. This is a result of the discount rate used in the actuarial valuation for the 2021-22 financial year – 3.40% compared to 1.60% in the previous year. Figure 4 shows the relationship between the discount used in the actuarial valuation of the LGPS scheme and the value of the assets / liabilities over the last five years.

80,000

60,000

40,000

3.5%

3.0%

2.5%

2.0%

1.5%

1.0%

4.0% 20,000

0% 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

With cash balances forecast to remain healthy during this period, management remain satisfied that the University has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason it continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts.

Investment Policy and Performance

Investment limits have been agreed by Council that reflect the credit rating of the relevant counterparty and the period of the deposit. A financial institution is deemed to be an individual institution if it is registered separately with the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and treated as an individual institution for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Therefore, different institutions within the same banking group may get individual banking licenses. Credit ratings are taken to be the lowest of those assessed by the principal recognised agencies (Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s) as applied to the senior debt of the relevant counterparty.

Only sterling deposits or sterling commercial paper with maturities within the limits set out in the next table are eligible:

Counterparty Limit Time Period

Barclays Bank subject to long term A rating

£30 million Aggregate limit £50 million * Temporary - 14 days £10 million Over 1 month £5 million Over 3 months £5 million Over 6 months

Any other Bank or Financial Institution long term A rated £5 million Aggregate limit £2 million Over 3 months £1 million Over 6 months

Liquidity or Money Market Investment Fund AAA rated £10 million Up to 3 months

*An aggregate limit with Barclays of £50m was approved by Council in July 2020 to take into account short periods of time when funds are received from the Student Loan Company and remain with the University before payment is made to Partners.

At 31 July 2022 there was a total balance of £19.6m held in deposit accounts. This was split between Handelsbanken (£5m), Santander (£5m), Barclays (£5m) and Lloyds (£4.6m).

The year ahead

As indicated in last year’s report the University has delivered a strong financial outcome both in terms of operating surplus and cash generation. This has given the University the financial confidence to set an exciting investment budget for the year ahead. This is centred on investing in excellence and creates a solid financial foundation to support and enable the delivery of the University’s new Strategy Thrive 2028.

The early indications on recruitment for the current year are showing positive for the year ahead. Student recruitment and in particular full-time home students both in the University and through its franchise partners are in line with budgetary assumptions. Tuition grants are up on the assumed Budget for the year and the University has received £1.0m from a legacy overage clause, which will be reported in the coming year.

The University continues to experience an improved up-take of the repositioned accommodation offer recently introduced and which continues to be attractive to new and returning students.

Overall, the University is well positioned for the financial year ahead and is not complacent in delivering to the financial targets set in the Budget. The University is determined to continue to invest in the student experience to ensure it remains competitive in a challenging market.

Statement of corporate governance

The following statement is provided to enable readers of the financial statements of Buckinghamshire New University to gain a better understanding of the governance and legal structure of the University and covers the period 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022.

Buckinghamshire New University is an independent corporation, established as a Higher Education Corporation under the provisions of the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. It is an exempt charity as defined under the Charities Act 2011.

The University is regulated by the Office for Students (OfS) which was established 1 April 2018 and is the principal regulator for English higher education institutions that are exempt charities. Previously it was regulated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). During 2021-22, the University’s Council, as trustee of the University, continued to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and its supplementary guidance on the advancement of education.

The University conducts its business in accordance with the OfS public interest governance principles, the seven principles identified by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Principles) and with the guidance to institutions of higher education provided by the Committee of University Chairs (CUC). The University’s Council is satisfied that it is aligned to the HE Code of Governance published by CUC in December 2014, revised June 2018 and September 2020 and that the University continues to meet the OfS Ongoing Conditions of Registration.

Its objects, powers and framework of governance are set out in the Articles of Government. Amendments to these Articles must be approved by the OfS (formerly by the Privy Council). The Articles require the University to constitute a University Council and an Academic Board, each with clearly defined functions and responsibilities, to oversee and manage its activities.

Our governance

These committees are composed of independent and external co-opted members of the University’s Council. The decisions of all these committees are reported formally to the Council. The University’s Council conducts regular effectiveness reviews of itself and its committees. These reviews include an analysis of attendance, work undertaken and the views of members so that changes can be introduced as appropriate during the next cycle.

As Chief Executive, the Vice-Chancellor leads the development of the University strategy, the identification and planning of new developments and the shaping of the University ethos. Members of the University Executive Team (currently the Vice-Chancellor, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Pro ViceChancellor-Education and Digital, Chief Finance Officer, Commercial Director and University Secretary and Clerk to the Council) all contribute in various ways to this aspect of the work. However, the ultimate responsibility to the Council rests with the Vice-Chancellor. In accordance with the Articles of Government of the University, the University Secretary and Clerk to the Council has been designated Secretary to the University’s Council and in that capacity provides independent advice on matters of governance to all Council members.

University Council

The University’s Council comprises independent and University members appointed under the Instrument and Articles of Government of the University, the majority of whom are non-executive. The roles of Chair and Deputy Chair of the Council are separated from the role of the University's Vice-Chancellor.

The matters specially reserved to the Council for decision are set out in the Articles of the University, by custom and under the Terms and Conditions of funding for higher education institutions with the OfS. The Council identifies that it has primary responsibilities that it reserves to itself for: the ongoing strategic direction of the University; the determination of the educational character and mission of the University; the approval of the annual estimates of income and expenditure; the approval of major developments and; the receipt of regular reports from Executive Officers on the day-to-day operations of its business and its subsidiary companies.

The Council also has responsibility for:

• The effective and efficient use of resources, the solvency of the University and the Corporation and for safeguarding their assets;

• The employment of those designated by the Council as Senior Employees and their appointment, grading, assignment, appraisal, suspension, dismissal and determination of their pay and conditions of service;

• Setting the framework for the employment, including pay and conditions, of all other employees and contractors;

• Corporate policies, regulations and procedures to assure the effective governance of the University and to meet statutory and other legal obligations, including an anti-fraud and anti-corruption policy.

The Council met six times (all meetings bar one were held virtually using MS Teams to accommodate social distancing requirements necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic) during the year and had several Committees reporting to it, including a Resources Committee, a Vice-Chancellor Remuneration Committee, a Staff Reward Committee, a Governance Committee, a Student Experience Committee and an Audit Committee. All of these Committees are formally constituted with terms of reference and predominantly comprise of independent members of Council, one of whom acts in the role of Committee Chair.

Senate (Academic Board)

Subject to the overall responsibility of the University’s Council, the Senate has oversight of the academic affairs of the University and draws its membership entirely from the staff and students of the University. It is particularly concerned with issues relating to the teaching and research work of the University. Senate is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor in his capacity as Head of the Institution.

Resources Committee

The Resources Committee recommends to Council the University’s annual revenue and capital budgets, and monitors performance in relation to these approved budgets and key performance indicators. The committee usually meets four times during each academic year.

Governance Committee

The Governance Committee considers and is responsible for the effective operation of the University’s Council in accordance with the CUC HE Governance Code of Practice including the nomination, appointment and induction of new members to ensure an appropriate mix of skills and expertise.

Vice-Chancellor Remuneration Committee

The Remuneration Committee determines the remuneration of the senior employees, including the Vice-Chancellor and is responsible for approving the University’s Annual Remuneration Report, the Staff Note for publication in the annual Financial Statements and the Remuneration Statement for publication on the University’s website.

Staff Reward Committee

The Staff Reward Committee determines the remuneration of the senior employees, excluding the Vice-Chancellor and is responsible for approving the University’s Annual Remuneration Report

Student Experience Committee

The Student Experience Committee was newly established in the 2020- 21 academic year and met on two occasions. It is responsible for monitoring key performance measures in relation to the student experience including the contribution of the Students’ Union.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee meets quarterly, and independent members may meet privately with the internal and external auditors to discuss audit findings. It considers the detailed internal audit report findings prepared by BNU’s internal audit service; monitors adherence with regulatory requirements; and oversees the institutional risk register, prepared by the University from local risk registers, for presentation and consideration by the Audit Committee reviews. The committee also reviews the annual financial statements and accounting policies; the system and processes for the preparation and submission of statutory returns to the OfS and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA); and the effectiveness of the systems of internal controls. The committee receives and recommends an annual report on risk to the full Council.

Statement of internal control

The University’s Council acknowledges its responsibility for ensuring that an effective system of internal financial control is maintained and operated by Buckinghamshire New University and the University’s Council confirms it has reviewed the effectiveness of these arrangements.

The system of internal financial control is based on a framework of regular management information, administrative procedures including the segregation of duties and a system of delegation and accountability. The following processes are established to review the adequacy and effectiveness of the University’s system of internal control:

• KCG provides internal audit services for the University. KCG provides an annual opinion on the adequacy and the effectiveness of internal controls and risk management across the University, in accordance with the CUC Higher Education Audit Committees Code of Practice.

• The Audit Committee receives regular reports from the internal audit service, including its independent opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the University’s system of internal control, together with recommendations for improvement.

• Council receives regular reports from the Audit Committee on internal control and the business of the Committee.

• There is a comprehensive budgeting system with an annual and fiveyear budget which is reviewed and agreed by Council.

These arrangements also allow for the University to ensure propriety and regularity in the use of public funding. This is achieved through the operation of frameworks and policies, including Financial Regulations, which are underpinned by linked policies, such as the Expenses Policy, and procedures in relation to procurement.

The key elements of the University’s system of internal control, which is designed to support the Council in carrying out its responsibilities, include:

• Clear definitions of the responsibilities of, and the authority delegated to, senior officers of the University

• A comprehensive annual planning process, supplemented by detailed annual income, expenditure, capital and cash flow budgets.

• A regular review of institutional performance and of financial results, involving variance reporting and updates of forecast out-turns.

• Clearly defined and formalised requirements for approval and control of expenditure

• Procedures for the management of investment and risk

• A professional internal audit service delivered under terms of reference which reflect guidance issued by CUC, and whose annual programme is approved by the Audit Committee

The University's Council has established the processes for the identification, evaluation and management of risks that the University faces.

The University’s Council has responsibility for maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of policies, aims and objectives, while safeguarding the public and other funds and assets for which it is responsible.

This is in accordance with the responsibilities assigned to the governing body in the Instrument and Articles of Government and the Terms and Conditions of funding for higher education institutions with the OfS.

The system of internal control is designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve policies, aims and objectives. It can therefore only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.

The system of internal control is based on an ongoing process designed to identify the principal risks to the achievement of policies, aims and objectives, to evaluate the nature and extent of those risks and to manage them efficiently, effectively and economically.

More specifically:

• The Audit Committee provides an oversight of risk management.

• Regular meetings between senior managers and Service Leaders to review progress and issues arising from operational activities, and similar meetings with Heads of School in relation to academic developments.

• Oversight by Resources Committee of matters relating to resource allocation, forward planning, effectiveness and value for money.

• The University’s Council receives periodic reports from the Chair of the Audit Committee concerning internal control and requires regular reports from managers on the steps they are taking to manage risks in their areas of responsibility, including progress reports on key projects.

• A robust risk prioritisation methodology based on risk ranking and cost-benefit analysis has been established and an organisation wide risk register is maintained.

• Clear definitions of the responsibilities of, and the authority delegated to, senior officers of the University.

• 8 internal audits, one of which, sustainability was unsatisfactory. Significant progress in this area has already been made and will be reported on in January 23

• External Auditors, in their audit for the year ending 31 July 2022, included consideration of internal control relevant to the preparation of the Financial Statements, the external audit finding no significant deficiencies.

Statement of responsibilities of the University’s Council

The University’s Council is responsible for keeping adequate accounting records which disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the Group, and for ensuring that the financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Instrument and Articles of Government, the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting for Further and Higher Education and FRS102. Within the Terms and Conditions of funding for higher education institutions with the OfS and the University’s Council, through its designated accountable officer, the University is required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of Buckinghamshire New University and Group and of the surplus or deficit and cash flows for that year. The designated accountable officer is the Vice-Chancellor. In preparing these financial statements, the University’s Council is required to:

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent and state whether applicable United Kingdom Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.

• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group will continue in operation.

Independent auditor’s report to the council of Buckinghamshire New University

Report on the audit of the Financial Statements

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Buckinghamshire New University (“the University”) for the year ended 31 July 2022 which comprise the Consolidated and University Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure, the Consolidated and University Statement of Changes in Reserves, the Consolidated and University Balance Sheet, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and related notes, including the Statement of Principal Accounting Policies.

In our opinion the financial statements:

Give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s and of the University’s affairs as at 31 July 2022, and of the Group’s and of the University’s income and expenditure, gains and losses and changes in reserves, and of the Group’s cash flows, for the year then ended; and

Have been properly prepared in accordance with UK accounting standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable law. Our responsibilities are described below. We have fulfilled our ethical responsibilities under, and are independent of the Group in accordance with, UK ethical requirements including the FRC Ethical Standard. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is a sufficient and appropriate basis for our opinion.

Going concern

The Council has prepared the financial statements on the going concern basis as it does not intend to liquidate the Group or the University or to cease their operations, and as it has concluded that the Group and the University’s financial position means that this is realistic. It has also concluded that there are no material uncertainties that could have cast significant doubt over their ability to continue as a going concern for at least a year from the date of approval of the financial statements (“the going concern period”).

In our evaluation of the Council’s conclusions, we considered the inherent risks to the Group’s business model and analysed how those risks might affect the Group and University’s financial resources or ability to continue operations over the going concern period.

Our conclusions based on this work:

• we consider that the Council’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate;

• we have not identified, and concur with the Council’s assessment that there is not, a material uncertainty related to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Group or the University’s ability to continue as a going concern for the going concern period.

However, as we cannot predict all future events or conditions and as subsequent events may result in outcomes that are inconsistent with judgements that were reasonable at the time they were made, the above conclusions are not a guarantee that the Group or the University will continue in operation.

Fraud and breaches of laws and regulations – ability to detect

Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement due to fraud

To identify risks of material misstatement due to fraud (“fraud risks”) we assessed events or conditions that could indicate an incentive or pressure to commit fraud or provide an opportunity to commit fraud. Our risk assessment procedures included:

• Enquiring of directors, the Audit Committee, internal audit and inspection of policy documentation as to the Group’s high-level policies and procedures to prevent and detect fraud, including the internal audit function, and the Group’s channel for “whistleblowing”, as well as whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud.

• Reading Council, Remuneration Committee, Resources Committee, Governance Committee, and Audit Committee minutes.

• Using analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships.

• Reviewing fraud and whistleblowing reports provided to the Audit Committee.

We communicated identified fraud risks throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of fraud throughout the audit.

As required by auditing standards, we perform procedures to address the risk of management override of controls, in particular the risk that Group management may be in a position to make inappropriate accounting entries and the risk of bias in accounting estimates such as pension assumptions. On this audit we do not believe there is a fraud risk

related to revenue recognition because revenue is made up of a large volume of low-value transactions, meaning that there is minimal opportunity to commit a material fraud. In particular, a very large number of false entries to student data would be required for a material fraud in tuition fee revenue.

We did not identify any additional fraud risks.

We performed procedures including:

• Identifying journal entries and other adjustments to test for all full scope components based on risk criteria and comparing the identified entries to supporting documentation. These included those posted by individuals who seldom post journals, and seldom used account combinations relating to cash or borrowings.

• Assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias.

Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement related to compliance with laws and regulations

We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our general commercial and sector experience, through discussion with the directors and other management (as required by auditing standards), and from inspection of the Group’s regulatory and legal correspondence and discussed with the directors and other management the policies and procedures regarding compliance with laws and regulations.

We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.

The potential effect of these laws and regulations on the financial statements varies considerably.

Firstly, the Group is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the financial statements including financial reporting legislation (including related higher education and charities legislation), taxation legislation, and pensions legislation and we assessed the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items.

Secondly, the Group is subject to many other laws and regulations where the consequences of noncompliance could have a material effect on amounts or disclosures in the financial statements, for instance through the imposition of fines or litigation or the loss of the Group’s license to operate. We identified the following areas as those most likely to have such an effect: fraud, corruption, and bribery legislation, money laundering regulations, and compliance with regulatory requirements of the Office for Students and UK Visas and Immigration, recognising the nature of the Group’s activities. Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. Therefore if a breach of operational regulations is not disclosed to us or evident from relevant correspondence, an audit will not detect that breach.

We have reported separately on the University’s use of funds in the section of our audit report dealing with other legal and regulatory requirements.

Context of the ability of the audit to detect fraud or breaches of law or regulation

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws

and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it.

In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of nondetection of fraud, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. Our audit procedures are designed to detect material misstatement. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance or fraud and cannot be expected to detect noncompliance with all laws and regulations.

Other information

The Council is responsible for the other information, which comprises the Strategic Report, the Statement of Corporate Governance, and the Statement of Internal Control. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether, based on our financial statements audit work, the information therein is materially misstated or inconsistent with the financial statements or our audit knowledge. Based solely on that work, we have not identified material misstatements in the other information.

Council responsibilities

As explained more fully in its statement set out on page 54, the Council is responsible for: the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view; such internal control as it determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; assessing the Group and parent University’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and using the going concern basis of accounting unless it either intends to liquidate the Group or the parent University or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue our opinion in an auditor’s report.

Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but does not guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial statements.

A fuller description of our responsibilities is provided on the FRC’s website at www.frc.org. uk/auditorsresponsibilities .

Report on other legal and regulatory requirements

We are required to report on the following matters by the Accounts Direction dated 25 October 2019 issued by the Office for Students (‘the Accounts Direction’).

In our opinion, in all material respects:

• funds from whatever source administered by the Group or the University for specific purposes have been properly applied to those purposes and managed in accordance with relevant legislation;

• funds provided by the Office for Students, UK Research and Innovation (including Research England), the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the Department for Education have been applied in accordance with the relevant terms and conditions; and

• the financial statements meet the requirements of the Accounts Direction dated 25 October 2019 issued by the Office for Students.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We are required by the Accounts Direction to report to you where the University has an access and participation plan that has been approved by the Office for Students’ director of fair access and participation and the results of our audit work indicate that the Group’s and the University’s expenditure on access and participation activities for the financial year disclosed in note 7b has been materially misstated.

We are also required by the Accounts Direction to report to you where the results of our audit work indicate that the Group’s and the University’s grant and fee income, as disclosed in notes 1-3 to the financial statements has been materially misstated.

We have nothing to report in these respects.

The purpose of our audit work and to whom we owe our responsibilities

This report is made solely to the Council in accordance with paragraph 12(2) of the University's Articles of Government and section 124B of the Education Reform Act 1988. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Council those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the University and the Council for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Dean Gibbs

for and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants

15 Canada Square London E14 5GL

Statement of Council responsibilities in respect of the annual report and the financial statements

The Council is responsible for preparing the Financial Statements in accordance with the requirements of the Office for Students’ Terms and Conditions of Funding for Higher Education Institutions and Research England’s Terms and Conditions of Research England Grant and applicable law and regulations.

It is required to prepare the group and parent University financial statements in accordance with UK accounting standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The Terms and Conditions of Funding further require the financial statements to be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Accounts Direction dated 25 October 2019 issued by the Office for Students (‘the Accounts Direction’) and the 2019 Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting for Further and Higher Education.

The Council is required to prepare financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and of the parent University and of their income and expenditure, gains and losses and changes in reserves, and of the Group’s cash flows for that period. In preparing each of the group and parent University financial statements, the Council is required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable UK accounting standards and the 2019 Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting for Further and Higher Education have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

• assess the group and parent University’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and

• use the going concern basis of accounting unless it either intends to liquidate the group or the parent University or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

The Council is responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the parent University’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the parent University. It is responsible for such internal control as it determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and has general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to it to safeguard the assets of the group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

The Council is also responsible for ensuring that:

• funds from whatever source administered by the Group or the University for specific purposes have been properly applied to those purposes and managed in accordance with relevant legislation;

• funds provided by the Office for Students, UK Research and Innovation (including Research England) and the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the Department for Education have been applied in accordance with the terms and conditions attached to them;

• ensuring that there are appropriate financial and management controls in place to safeguard public funds and funds from other sources; and

• securing the economical, efficient and effective management of the University’s resources and expenditure.

The Council is responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the University’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure

Year ended 31 July 2022

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Notes Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Income

Tuition fees and education contracts 1 153,622 153,622 137,795 137,355

Funding body grants 2 6,642 6,735 8,133 7,907 Research grants and contracts 3 414 414 283 283 Other income 4 8,276 6,459 5,231 4,647 Investment income 5 56 56 16 16

Total income 169,010 167,286 151,458 150,208

Expenditure

Staff costs 6 40,771 39,850 35,770 34,901 Fundamental restructuring costs 7 15 15 215 215 Other operating expenses 7 112,188 110,901 103,233 102,721 Depreciation 11&12 5,952 5,943 6,058 5,568

Interest and other finance costs 8 2,540 2,540 2,745 2,066

Total expenditure 7 161,466 159,249 148,021 145,471

Surplus before other gains losses 7,544 8,037 3,437 4,737

Gain on disposal of fixed assets 11 11 - -

Surplus before tax 7,555 8,048 3,437 4,737

Taxation 9 - - - -

Surplus for the year 7,555 8,048 3,437 4,737

Unrealised surplus on revaluation of land and buildings - - -Unrealised surplus on revaluation of tangible assets - - 2,822Actuarial gain in respect of pension schemes 26 46,262 46,262 6,576 6,576

Total comprehensive income for the year 53,817 54,310 12,835 11,313 Represented by: Unrestricted comprehensive income for the year 50,995 54,330 12,835 11,313 Revaluation reserve comprehensive income for the year 2,822 (20) -Attributable to the University 53,817 54,310 12,835 11,313

All items of income and expenditure relate to continuing activities.

Accompanying notes and policies on pages 60 to 87 form part of these financial statements.

Consolidated and University Statement of Changes in Reserves

Year ended 31 July 2022

Consolidated

Income and expenditure account Revaluation reserve Total Restricted Unrestricted £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Balance at 1 August 2020 13 4,648 4,337 8,998

(Deficit)/surplus from the income and expenditure statement - 3,437 - 3,437

Other comprehensive income - 9,398 - 9,398 Transfers between revaluation and income and expenditure reserve - -Release of restricted funds spent in year - - - -

Total comprehensive income for the year - 12,835 - 12,835

Balance at 1 August 2021 13 17,483 4,337 21,833

(Deficit)/ surplus from the income and expenditure statement - 7,555 - 7,555

Other comprehensive income - 46,262 - 46,262 Transfers between revaluation and income and expenditure reserve - (2,822) 2,822Received of restricted funds in year - - - -

Total comprehensive income for the year - 50,995 2,822 53,817

Balance at 31 July 2022 13 68,478 7,159 75,650

University

Income and expenditure account Revaluation reserve Total Restricted Unrestricted £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Balance at 1 August 2020 13 5,500 4,337 9,850

(Deficit)/surplus from the income and expenditure statement - 4,737 - 4,737

Other comprehensive income - 6,576 - 6,576 Transfers between revaluation and income and expenditure reserve -Release of restricted funds spent in year - -

Total comprehensive income for the year - 11,313 - 11,313

Balance at 1 August 2021 13 16,813 4,337 21,163

(Deficit)/ surplus from the income and expenditure statement - 8,048 - 8,048

Other comprehensive income - 46,262 (20) 46,242 Transfers between revaluation and income and expenditure reserve -Received of restricted funds in year - -

Total comprehensive income for the year - 54,310 (20) 54,290

Balance at 31 July 2021 13 71,123 4,317 75,453

Accompanying notes and policies on pages 60 to 87 form part of these financial statements.

Consolidated and University Balance Sheet

Year

ended

31 July 2022

Non-current assets

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021 Restated Notes Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Intangible assets 10 1,516 1,516 1,926 1,926 Fixed assets 11 99,560 99,386 98,883 98,812 Investments 12 - 1,036 - 1,036 101,076 101,938 100,809 101,774

Current assets

Stock 14 21 - 16Trade and other receivables 15 20,835 23,450 12,501 14,796 Investments 16 5,034 5,034 5,034 5,034 Cash and cash equivalents 21 54,818 54,723 37,217 37,149 80,708 83,207 54,768 56,979

Less: Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 17 (33,447) (37,005) (19,621) (23,467)

Net current assets 47,261 46,202 35,147 33,512

Total assets less current liabilities 148,337 148,140 135,956 135,286

Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 18 (47,642) (47,642) (47,732) (47,732)

Provisions

Pension provisions 19 & 26 (25,045) (25,045) (65,766) (65,766) Other provisions 19 - - (625) (625)

Total net assets 75,650 75,453 21,833 21,163

Restricted Reserves

Income and expenditure reserve - restricted reserve 20 13 13 13 13 Unrestricted Reserves

Income and expenditure reserve - unrestricted 68,478 71,123 17,483 16,813 Revaluation reserve 7,159 4,317 4,337 4,337 75,637 75,440 21,820 21,150

Total Reserves 75,650 75,453 21,833 21,163

Accompanying notes and policies on pages 60 to 87 form part of these financial statements. Restated to separate our intangible assets from fixed assets. The financial statements were approved by the Governing Body on 29 November 2022 and were signed on its behalf on that date by:

Professor Nick Braisby Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive

Galliers CBE Chair of Council and Pro-Chancellor

Maggie

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

Year ended 31 July 2022

Notes Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021 £'000 £'000

Cash flow from operating activities Surplus / (Deficit) for the year 7,555 3,437

Adjustment for non-cash items

Depreciation 11 & 12 5,952 6,058

Increase in stock 14 (5) (3)

Decrease/ (increase) in debtors 15 (8,288) 686 Increase in creditors 17 13,605 2,229

Increase in pension provision contribution 27 4,729 3,363 Increase / (decrease) in other provisions 20 (625) 625

Adjustment for investing or financing activities

Investment income 5 (56) (16)

Interest payable 8 2,540 2,745

Loss /Profit on the sale of fixed assets 24Capital grant income 18 (1,291) (1,199) Net cash inflow from operating activities 24,140 17,925

Cash flows from investing activities

Proceeds from sales of fixed assets 35 -

Capital grants receipts 19 2,405 2,179

Investment income 5 56 16 Payments made to acquire tangible fixed assets 12 (5,253) (1,931) Payments made to acquire intangible fixed assets 11 (1,025) (512) (3,782) (248)

Cash flows from financing activities

Interest paid 8 (1,105) (1,830)

Interest element of finance lease and service concession payments 8 (402) (12) Repayments of amounts borrowed 19 (703) (666) Capital element of finance lease and service concession payments 24 (547) (968) (2,757) (3,476)

(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents in the year 17,601 14,201

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year 21 37,217 23,016 Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year 21 54,818 37,217

The University has taken advantage of the exemption under paragraph 1.12 of FRS102 for qualifying entities from preparing its own cash flow statement.

Accompanying notes and policies on pages 60 to 87 form part of these financial statements.

Statement of principal accounting policies

The country of incorporation of Buckinghamshire New University is the United Kingdom

The following accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items which are considered material in relation to the financial statements.

The functional currency used in the preparation of the financial statements is GBP Sterling.

Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the statement of recommended practice ‘SORP: Accounting for Further and Higher Education Institutions 2019’,the requirements of the OfS’s accounts direction (issued June 2018) and in accordance with the FRS 102 Accounting Standards. The University is a public benefit entity and therefore applies the relevant public benefit requirement of FRS102.

Basis of accounting

The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention modified by the revaluation of certain fixed assets.

Going Concern

The Group and parent University’s activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position, are set out in the Strategic Report which forms part of the Council’s Report. The Council’s Report also describes the financial position of the Institution, its cash flows, liquidity position and borrowing facilities.

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which the Council consider to be appropriate for the following reasons.

The Council has prepared cash flow forecasts for a period of 13 months from the date of approval of these financial statements (the going concern period). which indicate that, taking account of severe but plausible

downsides, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Group and parent University will have sufficient funds to meet their liabilities as they fall due for that period.

In reaching this conclusion, the Council has considered a severe but plausible downside scenario, accounting for potential changes to the higher education funding regime, the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and uncertainty over future price inflation; as well as suitable and plausible mitigating actions including cost controls.

The Council believe the Group and parent University have sufficient funding in place and expect the Group to be in compliance with its debt covenants even in severe but plausible downside scenarios.

Consequently, the Council is confident that the Group and parent University will have sufficient funds to continue to meet their liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements and therefore have prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis.

Basis of consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the University and its subsidiaries for the financial year to 31 July 2022. The results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the period are included in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure from the date of acquisition or up to the date of disposal. Intra-group transactions are eliminated on consolidation.

The consolidated financial statements do not include the income and expenditure of the Students' Union as the University does not exert control or dominant influence over policy decisions.

Joint ventures and investments in associates are accounted for using the equity method.

Income Recognition

Income from the sale of goods or services is credited to the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure when the goods or services are supplied to the external customers or the terms of the contract have been satisfied.

Fee income for the University and its partners is stated gross of any expenditure which is not a discount and credited to the Consolidated Statement of Income and Expenditure over the period in which students are studying. For courses starting in September / October, the assumption is that the course is completed within the academic / financial year. For courses starting between January and July the course is assumed to start from the first day of the following month. Where the amount of the tuition fee is reduced, by a discount for prompt payment, income receivable is shown net of the discount. Bursaries and scholarships are accounted for gross as expenditure and not deducted from income.

Investment income is credited to the Statement of Consolidated Income and Expenditure on a receivable basis.

Funds the University receives and disburses as paying agent on behalf of a funding body are excluded from the income and expenditure of the University where the University is exposed to minimal risk or enjoys minimal economic benefit related to the transaction.

Grant funding

The University has adopted the accrual model for government revenue grants.

Government revenue grants including funding council block grant and research grants are recognised in income over the periods in which the University recognises the related costs for which the grant is intended to compensate. Where part of a government grant is deferred it is recognised as deferred income within creditors and allocated between creditors due

within one year and due after more than one year as appropriate.

Grants (including research grants) from non-government sources are recognised as income when the University is entitled to the income and performance related conditions have been met. Income received in advance of performance related conditions being met is recognised as deferred income within creditors on the balance sheet and released to income as the conditions are met.

Capital grants

Government capital grants are recognised in income over the expected useful life of the asset using the accruals method of accounting. Other capital grants are recognised in income when the University is entitled to the funds subject to any performance related conditions being met.

Donations and endowments

Non exchange transactions without performance related conditions are donations and endowments. Donations and endowments with donor imposed restrictions are recognised in income when the University is entitled to the funds. Income is retained within the restricted reserve until such time that it is utilised in line with such restrictions at which point the income is released to general reserves through a reserve transfer.

Donations with no restrictions are recognised in income when the University is entitled to the funds.

Investment income and appreciation of endowments is recorded in income in the year in which it arises and as either restricted or unrestricted income according to the terms other restriction applied to the individual endowment fund.

There are four main types of donations and endowments identified within reserves:

1. Restricted donations - the donor has specified that the donation must be used for a particular objective.

2. Unrestricted permanent endowments - the donor has specified that the fund is to be permanently invested to generate an income stream for the general benefit of the University.

3. Restricted expendable endowments - the donor has specified a particular objective other than the purchase or construction of tangible fixed assets, and the University has the power to use the capital.

4. Restricted permanent endowments - the donor has specified that the fund is to be permanently invested to generate an income stream to be applied to a particular objective.

Research and Development expenditure

Expenditure on Research and Development is written off to the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure in the year in which it is incurred.

Maintenance of premises

The University has a five-year rolling long-term maintenance plan, which forms the basis of the ongoing maintenance of the estate. The cost of long term and routine corrective maintenance is charged to the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure as incurred for work and is not capital in nature.

Foreign currency

Transactions in foreign currencies are translated to the respective functional currencies of Group entities at the foreign exchange rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are translated to the functional currency at the foreign exchange rate ruling at that date. Foreign exchange differences arising on translation are recognised in Surplus or Deficit. Non-monetary assets and liabilities that are measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are translated using the exchange rate at the date of the transaction. Non-monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies that are stated at fair value are retranslated to the functional currency at foreign exchange rates ruling at the dates the fair value was determined.

Accounting for retirement benefits

Retirement benefits for most employees of the University are provided by either the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) or the Local Government Pension

Scheme (LGPS). Some retirement benefits are provided by Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and Scottish Widows Scheme. The TPS, LGPS and USS schemes are defined benefit schemes which are externally funded and contracted out of the State Second Pension (S2P). Scottish Widows is a defined contribution plan.

The USS is a multi-employer scheme for which it is not possible to identify the assets and liabilities to the University as members due to the mutual nature of the scheme and therefore this scheme is accounted for as a defined contribution retirement benefit scheme.

A liability is recorded within provisions for any contractual commitment to fund past deficits within the USS scheme.

Defined Benefit Plan

Defined benefit plans are postemployment benefit plans other than defined contribution plans. Under defined benefit plans, the University’s obligation is to provide the agreed benefits to current and former employees, and actuarial risk (that benefits will cost more or less than expected) and investment risk (that returns on assets set aside to fund the benefits will differ from expectations) are borne, in substance, by the University. The Group should recognise a liability for its obligations under defined benefit plans net of plan assets. This net defined benefit liability is measured as the estimated amount of benefit that employees have earned in return for their service in the current and prior periods, discounted to determine its present value, less the fair value (at bid price) of plan assets. The calculation is performed by a qualified actuary using the projected unit credit method. Where the calculation results in a net asset, recognition of the asset is limited to the extent to which the University is able to recover the surplus either through reduced contributions in the future or through refunds from the plan.

Defined Contribution Plan

A defined contribution plan is a postemployment benefit plan under which the company pays fixed contributions into a separate entity and will have no legal or constructive obligation to pay further amounts. Obligations for contributions to defined contribution pension plans are recognised as an expense in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure in the periods during which services are rendered by employees.

Employment benefits

Short term employment benefits such as salaries and compensated absences are recognised as an expense in the year in which the employees render service to the University. Any unused benefits are accrued and measured as the additional amount the University expects to pay as a result of the unused entitlement. Termination benefits are recognised as an expense in the year an employee's contract of employment is terminated.

Tangible fixed assets

Fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. Certain items of fixed assets that had been revalued to fair value on or prior to the date of transition to the 2019 FE HE SORP, are measured on the basis of deemed cost, being the revalued amount at the date of that revaluation.

Depreciation is provided to write off the cost or valuation less the estimated residual value of the tangible fixed assets by equal instalments over their useful economic life as follows:

Core - 50 to 80 years; Roofs – 40 years; Finishes – 30 years;

Fixtures and fittings – 20 years; Mechanical and electrical – 30 years; Refurbishments of freehold buildings – 30 years;

Refurbishments of leasehold buildings – over the remaining period of the lease; Minor capital works – 5 years;

Equipment - 5 to 15 years;

Operating lease buyouts – over the remaining useful life of the underlying assets No depreciation is provided on freehold land

a. Land and buildings - The University's buildings are specialised buildings and therefore it is not appropriate

to value them on the basis of open market value. Land and buildings inherited from the Local Education Authority (LEA) are stated in the balance sheet at valuation on the basis of depreciated replacement cost. Other land and buildings are included in the balance sheet at cost. Freehold land is not depreciated as it is considered to have an indefinite useful life.

A review for impairment of a fixed asset is carried out annually for assets with an anticipated useful economic life in excess of 50 years. The useful life of all assets is reviewed if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the fixed asset may not be recoverable.

b. Buildings - Buildings under construction are accounted for at cost, based on the value of architects’ certificates and other direct costs, including associated finance costs, incurred to 31st July. No depreciation is charged on assets in the course of construction.

c. Equipment - Equipment, including computers and software, costing less than £5,000 per individual item is recognised as expenditure. All other equipment is capitalised. Capitalised equipment is depreciated over its useful economic life.

Where equipment is acquired with the aid of specific grants it is capitalised and depreciated in accordance with the above policy, with the related grant being credited to a deferred capital grant account and released to Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure over the expected useful economic life of the related equipment.

Intangible fixed assets

Intangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. Amortisation is provided to write off the cost or valuation less the estimated residual value of the intangible fixed assets by equal instalments over their useful economic life.

Investments

Investments in subsidiary undertakings are recognised at cost less provision for impairment losses.

Stock

Stock is held at the lower of cost and net realisable value, and is measured using a fair valuation method. Educational stock is not material in relation to the University finances and is therefore charged to the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure when purchased.

Taxation

The University is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011 (formerly schedule 2 of the Charities Act 1993) and as such within the meaning of paragraph 1 of schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2010. Accordingly, the University is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by sections 478 to 488 of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010 (formerly enacted in section 505 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988), or section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that such income or gains are applied to exclusively charitable purposes.

The University receives no similar exemption in respect of Value Added Tax. Irrecoverable VAT on inputs is included in the costs of such inputs. Any irrecoverable VAT allocated to fixed assets is included in their cost.

The University’s subsidiary companies are subject to corporation tax and VAT in the same way as any commercial organisation.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash includes cash in hand, deposits repayable on demand and overdrafts. Deposits are repayable on demand if they are in practice available within 24 hours without penalty.

Cash equivalents are short term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash with insignificant risk of change in value.

Short Term Investments

Short term investments comprise bank deposits which are not repayable within 24 hours.

Provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets

Provisions are recognised in the financial statements when:

a. the University has a present obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of a past event;

b. it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation; and

c. a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation.

The amount recognised as a provision is determined by discounting the expected future cash flows at a pre- tax rate that reflects risks specific to the liability.

A contingent liability arises from a past event that gives the University a possible obligation whose existence will only be confirmed by the occurrence or otherwise of uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the University. Contingent liabilities also arise in circumstances where a provision would otherwise be made but either it is not probable that an outflow of resources will be required or the amount of the obligation cannot be measured reliably.

A contingent asset arises where an event has taken place that gives the University a possible asset whose existence will only be confirmed by the occurrence or otherwise of uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the University.

Contingent assets and liabilities are not recognised in the Balance Sheet but are disclosed in the notes.

Agency arrangements

Funds the institution receives and disburses as paying agent on behalf of a funding body or other body, where the institution is exposed to minimal risk or enjoys minimal economic benefit related to the receipt and subsequent disbursement of the funds, are excluded from the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and Expenditure of the institution.

Financial Instruments

The University only has financial assets and liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. They are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value, as follows:

- Cash – cash held

- Debtors – settlement amount after any discounts

- Creditors – settlement after any trade discounts

- Loans – amortised cost

- Finance leases – amortised cost

Finance Leases

Leases in which the University assumes substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of the leased asset are classified as finance leases. Leased assets acquired by way of finance lease and the corresponding lease liabilities are initially recognised at an amount equal to the lower of their fair value and the present value of the minimum lease payments at inception of the lease.

Minimum lease payments are apportioned between the finance charge and the reduction of the outstanding liability. The finance charge

is allocated to each period during the lease term so as to produce a constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability.

Operating leases

Costs in respect of operating leases are charged on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Any lease premiums or incentives are spread over the minimum lease term.

Borrowing costs

Borrowing costs are recognised as expenditure in the period in which they are incurred.

Accounting for Joint Operations, Jointly Controlled Assets, Jointly Controlled Operations and Investments in Associates

The University accounts for its share of joint ventures using the equity method.

The University accounts for its share of transactions from joint operations and jointly controlled assets in the Consolidated Statement of Income and Expenditure.

The University accounts for its investments in associates under the equity method.

Reserves

Reserves are classified as restricted or unrestricted.

Other restricted reserves include balances where the donor has designated a specific purpose and therefore the University is restricted in the use of these funds.

Accounting estimates and judgements

The following accounting judgements are considered critical in applying the University’s accounting policies:

Partnership Income Recognition

The University applies judgment in determining the agency/principal relationship with its franchise partners. Where the University is exposed to the majority of the benefits and risks of the relationship the University considers itself to be acting as a principal and the student income is recognised on a gross basis. Where the University is not exposed to the majority of the benefits and risks of the relationship the University considers itself to be acting as an agent and the income is recognised on a net basis.

The primary factors that the University considers indicative when determining whether or not it is exposed to the majority of the benefits and risks of the relationship are:

1. A direct relationship with the Student Loan Company for the tuition fees of the students.

2. A direct relationship with the Office for Students for the teaching grants of the students.

3. A direct relationship with HESA for the students number return for those students.

4. The University having full contractual responsibility for teaching out the students if the partner fails.

5. The University bearing the risk of investment in the development of the course programmes which it designs as well as the inventory risk.

6. The University controlling the price of all courses charged to students.

Accounting for Chiltern Student Village

The University is a third member of Chiltern Student Villages Ltd (CSV), a charitable company whose objects include the advancement

of education through the provision of housing and associated services to students of the University and other educational institutions.

During 2016-17 the University completed the sale of its student accommodation to CSV as part of a wider refinancing arrangement with an alternative finance provider. This resulted in the University committing to an operating rental lease of the buildings on the site from Aviva as part of the transaction for a period of 30 years.

In the arrangements that exist above management have considered two key items in reviewing the application of appropriate accounting treatment:

1. Whether or not the University has control over CSV – it is concluded that management has no control over CSV as it is obliged to act within its objects which are not exclusively for the benefit of students of the University, Charity’s trustees are bound by charity law to act within the objects of CSV regardless of who appoints them. The University does have the right to remove the bank from CSV; however doing so would cause a significantly adverse commercial impact on the entity that this would never take place in practice.

2. Whether the arrangement with Aviva is an operating or finance lease – it has been concluded by management that the arrangement is an operating lease because at the end of the arrangement there is no beneficial financial arrangements with regards to continuing with the lease or the purchase of the asset. The life of the asset is 53 years as opposed to the length of the lease which is 30 years and the NPV of the minimum lease payments is significantly lower than the deemed value of the asset.

Accounting for bad debt provisions

The University has bad debt provisions in respect of student, partnership, commercial and research debts. The bad debt provision is calculated on a specific

basis according to where the student or student sponsor is in the debt collection cycle with a general provision calculated for remaining debtors with regards to the ageing of the debt to provide for balances which may prove irrecoverable due to the economic effects of Covid-19 on debtors. The specific provision takes into consideration the debtors engagement with the University and if their account has been placed with an external collector, if it is awaiting legal action and if there is an agreed payment plan in place.

Debt deemed to be uncollectable during the year is written off to the Consolidated Statement of Income and Expenditure.

Estimates for the accounting for employee benefits

FRS 102 requires that certain assumptions are made in order to determine the amount to be recorded for retirement benefit obligations and pension plan assets for certain of the University’s defined benefit plans. These are mainly actuarial assumptions such as discount rate, mortality rates and expected inflation rates. In determining the appropriate assumptions, the University has regard to various external sources, including as provided by actuaries.

Differences arising from actual experience or future changes in assumptions will be reflected in future years. The key assumptions made for 2022 are included in note 26.

Notes to the accounts

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University

1 Tuition fees and education contracts £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Full-time home and EU students 132,534 132,534 126,205 125,765

Full-time international students 8,064 8,064 1,695 1,695

Part-time students 6,748 6,748 5,158 5,158 Education contracts 974 974 757 757

Apprenticeship fee income 5,302 5,302 3,980 3,980 153,622 153,622 137,795 137,355

Full time Home and EU students includes £98,573k for 2021-22 and £94,619k for 2020-21 for students recruited through partners.

Year ended 31 July 2021 Year ended 31 July 2020

Consolidated University Consolidated University

2 Funding body grants £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Recurrent grant Office for Students 4,794 4,794 6,448 6,448 Education and Skills Fundings Agency 303 303 179 179 Specific grants Knowledge Exchange Funding 254 254 282 282 Capital grants released in year 1,291 1,384 1,224 998 6,642 6,735 8,133 7,907

Year ended 31 July 2021 Year ended 31 July 2020

Consolidated University Consolidated University

3 Research grants and contracts £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Research charities 22 22 5 5 Government (UK and overseas) 381 381 272 272 Industry and commerce 11 11 6 6 Other - -414 414 283 283

Year ended 31 July 2021 Year ended 31 July 2020

Consolidated University Consolidated University

4 Other income £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Residences and catering 4,792 4,821 2,911 2,912 Missenden Abbey Conference Centre 1,858 - 494Student Union Reimbursement 437 437 412 412 Other income 1,190 1,192 918 999 Government grants (1) 9 496 324 8,276 6,459 5,231 4,647

Year ended 31 July 2021 Year ended 31 July 2020

Consolidated University Consolidated University

5 Investment income £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Other investment income 56 56 16 16 56 56 16 16

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Note

The source of grant and fee income, included in notes 1 to 3 is as follows:

Grant and Fee income

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Grant income from the OfS 6,603 6,603 6,479 6,479

Grant income from other bodies 556 556 1,639 1,413

Fee income for research awards (exclusive of VAT) 10 103 231 231

Fee income from non-qualifying courses (exclusive of VAT) 56 56 91 91

Fee income for taught awards (exclusive of VAT) 153,453 153,453 137,771 137,331

Total grant and fee income 160,678 160,771 146,211 145,545

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University 6 Staff Costs £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Salaries 27,394 26,561 24,609 23,805 Social security costs 3,013 2,945 2,549 2,506 LGPS service costs 4,509 4,509 3,406 3,406 Movement on USS provision 220 220 (43) (43) Other pension costs 5,635 5,615 5,249 5,227

Total 40,771 39,850 35,770 34,901

a) Number of staff with a full-time equivalent basic salary of over £100,000 per annum

Number of staff (2021-22) Number of staff (2020-21)

£100,000 to £104,999 -£105,000 to £109,999 -£110,000 to £114,999 -£115,000 to £119,999 -£120,000 to £124,999 -£125,000 to £129,999 1 2 £130,000 to £134,999 1£135,000 to £139,999 -£140,000 to £144,999 -£145,000 to £149,999 -£150,000 to £154,999 -£155,000 to £159,999 - 1 £160,000 to £164,999 -£165,000 to £169,999 1 1 £170,000 to £174,999 -£175,000 to £179,999 -£180,000 to £184,999 -£185,000 to £189,999 -£190,000 to £194,999 -£195,000 to £199,999 - 1 £200,000 to £204,999 -£205,999 – £209,999 1 -

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

b) Remuneration Package of the Head of Provider (Vice-Chancellor)

Prof Nick Braisby (2022-22) Prof Nick Braisby (2020-21)

i) Basic Salary £208,654 * £198.510 *

ii) Payment of dividends None None

iii) Performance related pay and other bonuses including amount waived or deferred payment arrangements £300 None

iv) Pension contributions and payments in lieu of pension contributions £45,043 £41,949

v) Salary sacrifice arrangements None None

vi) Compensation for loss of office None None

vii) Any sums paid under any pension scheme in relation to employment with the provider None None

viii) Other taxable benefits None None

ix) Non-taxable benefits None None

x) Other remuneration None None

*A salary increase of £36,346 is deferred and has been accrued for in the 2021-22 Financial Statements. Payment of this sum, will be made to the Vice-Chancellor on 31 July 2025 provided that his performance remained satisfactory throughout the intervening period. The total accumulation as at 31 July 2022 (from 2019-20 onwards) is £88,326.

c) Justification for the total remuneration package for the head of provider (Professor Nick Braisby)

The Chair of Council undertakes the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive's annual Performance and Development Review (PDR) against an agreed set of objectives, both institutional and personal, which were reviewed periodically during the year. The overall conclusion from the review for 2021-22 was that the Vice-Chancellor both met and exceeded his objectives during another challenging year.

The Vice-Chancellor’s remuneration has been benchmarked and found to be appreciably below what would be expected for an institution of comparable income. Because of this, and the Vice-Chancellor’s sustained and continued positive performance, the Vice-Chancellor Remuneration Committee decided to increase the base pay for the Vice-Chancellor for 2021-22. The Committee has agreed that the shortfall between the Vice-Chancellor’s salary and benchmark will be made up over four years, and the accumulated difference between his remuneration and the benchmark remuneration will be paid at the end of that period thus bringing the Vice-Chancellor’s remuneration in line with the market for future years. This arrangement has been formally documented and approved by the Vice-Chancellor Remuneration Committee.

d) Relationship between head of provider’s remuneration and that for all other employees

The UCEA report pay ratio/multiple between the head of provider’s remuneration and the median salary for staff for 2021-22 remains at 5.9. This is based on information provided by the Universities & Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) which uses HESA data (academic staff only). The pay ratio/multiple including all staff as calculated using the University’s Payroll data is 6.1.

e)

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

b. Disclosures about the head of provider (Professor Nick Braisby)

Category Amount paid to the head of provider

i) Loss of office None

ii) Where compensation paid includes benefits Not applicable

iii) Where compensation paid includes additional pension payments Not applicable

Average staff numbers by major category

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Academic 322 307 Research 6 5 Management & specialist 133 114 Technical 37 57 Other 187 166 685 649

Key management personnel

Key management personnel are those persons having authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the University. Staff costs includes compensation paid to key management personnel.

The key management personnel at the University are its senior management team which is headed up by the Vice Chancellor and during this financial year has comprised the Deputy Vice Chancellor, the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education and Digital, the Chief Finance Officer, the Commercial and Business Development Director and the University Secretary and Clerk to Council.

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

£'000 £'000

Key management personnel compensation 768 792

Council Members

The University council members are the trustees for charitable law purposes. Due to the nature of the University's operations and the compositions of the Council, being drawn from local public and private sector organisations, it is inevitable that transactions will take place with organisations in which a member of the Council may have an interest. All transactions involving organisations in which a member of Council may have an interest, including those identified below, are conducted at arms length and in accordance with the University's Financial Regulations and usual procurement procedures. In 2021-22 transactions of this nature totalled £25,800 (2020-21 - £nil).

No council member has received any remuneration/waived payments from the group during the year (2020-21 - £nil)

The total expenses paid to or on behalf of three council members was £983 (2020-21 - £nil). This represented travel and subsistence expenses incurred in attending Council, committee meetings and charity events in their official capacity.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

7 Analysis of expenditure

Consolidated University Consolidated University total expenditure by activity £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Academic and related expenditure 119,239 113,312 109,784 104,218 Administration and central services 18,629 24,572 17,046 22,207 Premises 5,972 5,923 4,690 4,910 Residences, catering and conferences 5,004 2,829 3,571 2,375 Research grants and contracts 17 17 74 74 Depreciation 5,952 5,943 6,058 5,568 Interest payable 2,540 2,540 2,745 2,066 Other expenses 4,113 4,113 4,053 4,053 161,466 159,249 148,021 145,471

Academic and related expenditure includes £80,384k for 2021-22 and £78,044k for 2020-21 for the costs of tuition of students recruited through partners

Other operating expenses include:

External auditors -Audit (excluding VAT) 88 83 102 87 External auditors-non-audit (excluding VAT) 5 5 5 5 Internal audit services (excluding VAT) 46 46 47 47

Other operating expenses include:

Operating lease rentals 4,113 4,113 4,053 4,053 Land and buildings 10 10 9 9 Other 4,123 4,123 4,062 4,062

Fundamental restructuring costs 15 15 215 215

7b Access and Participation

Access Investment 316 316 515 515 Financial Support 967 967 1,918 1,918 Disability Support 915 915 1,071 1,071 Research and Evaluation 86 86 87 87 2,284 2,284 3,591 3,591

Note on staff costs

All staff costs of £162k are also included in the overall staff cost figure (ref: Note 6).

Note on partners

Investment by sub-contractual partners is included in the statement. This information is provided by the partners and combined with spend for BNU ‘taught’ students. This spend is incurred directly by the partners and does not appear in the accounts of BNU.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Context

Of our full-time, home undergraduate entrants in 2021-22,

- 24% were from the two lowest participation quintiles [28%]

- 55% were from the two most disadvantaged quintiles [23%]

- 21% of young entrants were eligible for free school meals at KS4 [18%]*

- 79% were mature [33%]

- 25% were Black [10%] - 14% were Asian [15%]

- 3% were an other ethnic minority [8%]

[Sector data in brackets- source OfS APP dashboard, 2020-21 latest data available; *FSM data is 20-21 source OfS APP dashboard; All other data internal Student Activity Dashboard, FTE, November 2021]

Access investment

BNU spent £90,917 and sub-contractual partners £225,275 on Access and Outreach (total: £316,191).

At BNU, 3500 school pupils engaged in over 217 events:

- 28% were potential first-generation in HE - 32% were members of the BAME community

- 33% came from high deprivation areas

- 55% came from areas of low participation in higher education

- 23% received free school meals

- 45 were service children

- 77 were care-experienced

We delivered more than 1200 hours of engaging virtual, inperson and blended activities throughout the year, including taster days, careers days and careers advice and guidance sessions across groups from Years 8 to 13. This activity culminated in two summer residential programmes for students interested in sport and young carers. Our Futures Days campus visits are aimed at Year 9 students, offering a first-hand experience of university life to encourage them to consider higher education, irrespective of their background. Last year we held 15 Futures Days which were offered to all local schools which meet our widening participation criteria. For older age groups, we support both their move into further education and their application to higher education, as well as offering parents’ information evenings and HE workshops. We actively seek to recruit Student Ambassadors who attended our target widening participation schools to provide relatable role models to the school pupils with whom we work.

Support for disabled students

BNU spent £395,246 and sub-contractual partners spent £519,328 on support for disabled students (total: £914,574).

Research and evaluation

BNU spent £79,860 and sub-contractual partners spent £6,271 on research and evaluation of access and participation activity (total: £86,131).

There has been ongoing embedded investment in business intelligence and evaluation capability during 2021-22. One manager and one analyst in the strategic planning team partially support the evaluation of attainment raising activity, awareness raising activity and manage associated business intelligence. The figure also includes HEAT membership. In late 2020-21 a new Quality Enhancement group was established which includes new School Directors of Education in each of our seven schools, as well as colleagues from relevant professional services. This group has been pivotal to increasing the visibility of outcome gaps. It supports a refreshed approach to annual School Enhancement Reviews in which Schools account for outcome gaps and respond with actions which feed into the strategic and business planning process.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Financial support

The types of financial support available in 2021-22 were as set out in our five-year plan (2020-2024).

BNU spent £575,439 and sub-contractual partners spent £370,262 on financial support for students (total: £945,701). In addition, there were £20,091 of administrative costs.

BNU ‘taught’ students: Bursaries: £321,093; Hardship Fund: £86,331; Bucks Future Success Package (books and equipment grant): £168,016.

623 UK domiciled students from underrepresented groups received bursaries:

- 595 Bucks Student Success Programme; - 75% were an ethnic minority - 44% were from the two most deprived quintiles

- 20 Care leaver bursary;

- 7 Estranged student bursary; - 1 GRTSB bursary.

82 UK domiciled students received support from the BNU hardship fund.

Hardship spend is countable for all students, but of recipients:

- 63% were an ethnic minority [BNU taught demographic 47%]

- 27% had a declared disability [BNU taught demographic 13%]

- 42% were from the two most deprived quintiles [BNU taught demographic 32%]

UCFB students: £351,662 funded bursary or scholarships.

We are currently in a teach out arrangement with UCFB. In 2021-22 we only had Level 5 and Level 6 students with smaller cohorts than in our APP projection. As such, the UCFB spend on financial support, attributable to our registered students at this partner is lower than projected in our APP.

Other partners

Other partners spent £18,600 on financial support.

Access Financial Support Research & Evaluation

Commitment £183,173 £1,314,627 £72,378 Spend £316,191 £945,701 £86,131

Overspend on Access & Outreach:

Our sub-contractual partners have invested in local access and outreach activity which was not anticipated when our five-year plan was drafted.

Underspend on Financial Support: UCFB teach-out

The overall financial support is an underspend because we are on teach out with UCFB, our largest partner at the time of the APP declaration, and therefore only had students at levels 5 and 6 and no new students at level 4. We have smaller cohort sizes for this partner overall than anticipated in the committed financial prediction.

BNU underspend: BNU has underspent in the financial support area due to a lack of uptake in the financial support offering provided to students. There is monthly monitoring of spend but this will be enhanced. There has been a communication campaign to improve awareness and uptake in 2022-23.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

9 Taxation

As explained in the accounting policies, the University is potentially exempt from taxation because of its charitable status and no taxation on income or capital gains is payable for 2021-22 or 2020-21.

10 Intangible Fixed Assets

Consolidated

Cost or valuation

Networked Application Software

Total £'000 £'000 £'000

Assets in the Course of Construction

At 1 August 2021 4,073 790 4,863 Additions 908 117 1,025 TransfersAt 31 July 2022 4,981 907 5,888 Depreciation

At 1 August 2020 2,937 - 2,937 Charge for the year 1,435 - 1,435 At 31 July 2022 4,372 - 4,372

Net book value

At 31 July 2022 609 907 1,516

At 31 July 2021 1,136 790 1,926

University

Networked Application Software

Cost or valuation

At 1 August 2021

Total £'000 £'000 £'000

Assets in the Course of Construction

4,073 790 4,863 Additions 908 117 1,025 TransfersAt 31 July 2022 4,981 907 5,888 Depreciation

At 1 August 2020 2,937 - 2,937 Charge for the year 1,435 - 1,435 At 31 July 2022 4,372 - 4,372

Net book value

At 31 July 2022 609 907 1,516

At 31 July 2021 1,136 790 1,926

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

11 Fixed Assets

Consolidated

Cost or valuation

Freehold Land and Buildings

Leasehold Land and Buildings

Fixtures, Fittings and Equipment

Assets in the Course of Construction

Total £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

At 1 August 2021 92,871 31,717 20,983 349 145,920 Additions 1,142 4,111 5,253 Disposals - - (7,028) - (7,028) At 31 July 2021 92,871 31,717 15,097 4,460 144,145

Depreciation

At 1 August 2021 27,371 4,914 14,752 - 47,037 Charge for the year 2,480 553 1,483 4,516 Disposals - - (6,968) - (6,968) At 31 July 2022 29,851 5,467 9,267 - 44,585

Net book value

At 31 July 2022 63,020 26,250 5,830 4,460 99,560

At 31 July 2021 65,500 26,803 6,231 349 98,883

University

Cost or valuation

Freehold Land and Buildings

Leasehold Land and Buildings

Fixtures, Fittings and Equipment

Assets in the Course of Construction

Total £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

At 1 August 2021 92,341 31,716 20,573 320 144,950 Additions 1,142 3,999 5,141 Disposals - - (6,715) - (6,715) At 31 July 2022 92,341 31,716 15,000 4,319 143,376

Depreciation

At 1 August 2021 26,860 4,913 14,365 - 46,138 Charge for the year 2,475 553 1,479 4,507 Disposals - - (6,655) - (6,655) At 31 July 2022 29,335 5,466 9,189 - 43,990

Net book value At 31 July 2022 63,006 26,250 5,811 4,319 99,386

At 31 July 2021 65,481 26,803 6,208 320 98,812

At 31 July 2022, freehold land and buildings included £14.45m (2021 £14.45m) in respect of freehold land and is not depreciated.

At 31 July 2022, freehold land and buildings included £55.14m (2021 - £57.45m) held under charge by Barclays Bank in respect of the loan detailed in note 18.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Group and University fixtures, fittings and equipment include assets held under finance leases as follows:

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021 £'000 £'000

Cost 3,130 2,253

Accumulated depreciation (1,697) (1,366) Charge for year (258) (258) Net book value 1,175 629

12 Non-Current Investments

Other non-current investments consist of : University £'000

BCUC (Conferences) Limited Share Capital - Dormant 1,822

BCUC (Conferences) Limited Provision for Loss - Dormant (886) Missenden Abbey Limited 100 1,036

Within the capital and reserves of BCUC (Conferences) Limited is £628k of called up share capital in BCUC (Services) Limited.

13 Investment in associate entities

Chiltern Student Villages Limited, a charitable company, is an associated entity of the University accounted for under the equity method. The cost and carrying amount of the investment at 31 July 2022 was nil (2021: £nil). Chiltern Student Villages Limited is a company limited by guarantee and has no shareholders and makes no distribution to its members. As such, in the year ended 31 July 2022 the University's share of the associate charitable company's result is nil (2021: £nil).

14

Stock

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

General consumables 21 - 1621 - 16 -

15 Trade and other receivables

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Amounts falling due within one year:

Trade Receivables 9,195 8,922 5,927 5,823

Prepayments and accrued income 11,640 11,626 6,574 6,557

Amounts due from subsidiary companies - 1,044 - 651

Amounts falling due after more than one year: Amounts due from subsidiary companies - 1,858 - 1,765 20,835 23,450 12,501 14,796

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

16 Current Investments

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Short term deposits 5,034 5,034 5,034 5,034 5,034 5,034 5,034 5,034

17 Creditors:

amounts falling due within one year

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Secured loans 745 745 706 706

Amounts due to subsidiary undertakings - 4,082 - 4,062

Deferred capital grants 1,393 1,393 1,359 1,359 Obligations under finance leases 723 723 622 622

Trade payables 6,860 6,631 1,504 1,478 Social security and other taxation payable 918 856 28 16 Accruals and deferred income 22,163 21,932 14,779 14,601 Other creditors 645 643 623 623 33,447 37,005 19,621 23,467

Deferred income

Included with accruals and deferred income are the following items of income which have been deferred until specific performance related conditions have been met.

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Grant income 1,393 1,393 1,359 1,359 Other income 14,743 14,708 8,595 8,526 16,136 16,101 9,954 9,885

18 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

Year ended 31 July 2021 Year ended 31 July 2020

Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Deferred capital grants 10,021 10,021 8,941 8,941 Obligations under finance lease 17,721 17,721 18,369 18,369

USS Pension Liability 335 335 115 115 Secured loans 19,565 19,565 20,307 20,307 47,642 47,642 47,732 47,732

USS deficit

The obligation to fund the past deficit on the Universitys' Superannuation Scheme (USS) arises from the contractual obligation with the pension scheme for total payments relating to benefits arising from past performance. Management have assessed future employees within the USS scheme and salary payment over the period of the contracted obligation in assessing the value of this provision.

The assumptions for calculating the provision for the obligation to fund the deficit for the USS scheme are:

Consolidated

Discount rate 3.31% Salary inflation 3.00%

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Analysis of secured and unsecured loans:

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Due within one year or on demand (Note 18) 745 745 706 706

Due between one and two years 785 785 745 745 Due between two and five years 2,615 2,615 2,480 2,480 Due in five years or more 16,165 16,165 17,082 17,082 Due after more than one year 19,565 19,565 20,307 20,307

Total secured and unsecured loans 20,310 20,310 21,013 21,013

Secured loans repayable by 2039 20,310 20,310 21,013 21,013 20,310 20,210 21,013 21,013

Lender Amount Term Interest rate Borrower £'000 % Barclays Bank 21,310 2039 5.32 University

19 Pension Provision (LGPS)

Consolidated and University Defined Benefit Obligations £'000

Pension enhancement

The assumptions for calculating the provision for pension enhancements on termination under FRS 102, are as follows:

At 1 August 2021 65,766 Release (40,721) At 31 July 2022 25,045 2022 2021 Consolidated Consolidated Discount rate 3.40% 1.60% Rate of inflation above CPI 1.00% 1.00%

Consolidated and University SLC Clawback Provision £'000

At 1 August 2021 625 Utilised in year (625) At 31 July 2022 -

Notes to the Accounts

20 Restricted Reserves

Consolidated re Consolidated reserves with restrictions represent scholarships and bursaries and are as follows:

Year ended 31 July 2022 2022 2021 Total Total £'000 £'000

Balance at 1 August 2021 13 13

Received / (Payment) from donations -At 31 July 2022 13 13

21

Cash and cash equivalents

At 1 August 2021 Cash At 31 July 2022 Flows £'000 £'000 £'000

Consolidated 37,217 17,601 54,818 University 37,149 17,574 54,723

22 Capital and other commitments

Provision has not been made for the following capital commitments:

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021 Consolidated University Consolidated University £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Commitments contracted for 15,684 15,684 1,550 1,550 15,684 15,684 1,550 1,550

These commitments are primarily made up of the High Wycombe campus project.

23 Lease obligations

Total rentals payable under operating leases:

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 20221 Year ended 31 July 2021 Land and Buildings Plant and Machinery Total Total £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Payable during the year 3,794 3 3,797 3,721

Future minimum lease payments due:

Not later than 1 year 3,230 11 3,241 3,797 Later than 1 year and not later than 5 years 11,177 23 11,200 11,516 Later than 5 years 67,842 - 67,842 70,734

Total lease payments due 82,249 34 82,283 86,047

The operating lease commitments primarily relate to the rents payable for the student accommodation buildings Windsor House and Hughenden Student Villages.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Total rentals payable under finance leases:

31 July 2022 31 July 2021 £'000 £'000

Payable during the year 701 970

Future minimum lease payments due:

Not later than 1 year 713 611

Later than 1 year and not later than 5 years 2,207 2,051

Later than 5 years 14,823 15,360

Total lease payments due 18,444 18,992

The finance lease commitments relate primarily to the Aylesbury campus building and land.

24 Contingent liabilities

There were no contingent liabilities as at 31 July 2022 or 31 July 2021.

25 Subsidiary undertakings

The subsidiary companies (all of which are registered in England & Wales), whollyowned or effectively controlled by the University, are as follows:

Company Principal Activity Status

Missenden Abbey Limited A hotel and management training complex 100% owned

BCUC (Conferences) Limited Dormant 100% owned

BCUC (Services) Limited Dornant 100% owned

Thames Valley Training & Development Ltd Dormant 100% owned

Buckinghamshire Education and Skills Training Dormant 100% owned

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

26 Pension Schemes

Different categories of staff are eligible to join one of two main schemes at the University:

• Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS); for academic employees

• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS); for non-academic employees

There are a very small number of academic employees who are also part of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

These schemes are defined benefit schemes contracted out of the State Second Pension (S2P), the assets of which are held in separate trustee administered funds. These are funded by contributions from the University and employees and the accounts reflect the cost of providing these benefits.

If the University ever closes and there is no successor establishment, the Secretary of State becomes the compensating authority.

Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS)

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is a statutory, contributory, defined benefit scheme, governed by the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Regulations 2014. These regulations apply to teachers in schools and other educational establishments, including universities. Membership is automatic for teachers and lecturers at eligible institutions. Teachers and lecturers are able to opt out of the TPS.

Although members may be employed by various bodies, their retirement and other pension benefits are set out in regulations made under the Superannuation Act (1972) and Public Service Pensions Act (2013) and are paid by public funds provided by Parliament.

The TPS is an unfunded scheme and members contribute on a ’pay as you go‘ basis – these contributions, along with those made by employers, are credited to the Exchequer under arrangements governed by the above Act. Retirement and other pension benefits are paid by public funds provided by Parliament.

Under the definitions set out in FRS 102 (28.11), the TPS is a multi-employer pension plan. The University is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the plan.

Accordingly, the University has taken advantage of the exemption in FRS 102 and has accounted for its contributions to the scheme as if it were a defined-contribution plan.

Valuation of the TPS

The valuation of the TPS is carried out in line with regulations made under the Public Service Pension Act 2013. Valuations credit the teachers’ pension account with a real rate of return assuming funds are invested in notional investments that produce that real rate of return.

The latest actuarial review of the TPS was carried out as at 31 March 2016. The valuation report was published by the Department for Education in April 2019. The valuation reported total scheme liabilities (pensions currently in payment and the estimated cost of future benefits) for service to the effective date of £218 billion, and notional assets (estimated future contributions together with the notional investments held at the valuation date) of £196 billion giving a notional past service deficit of £22 billion.

As a result of the valuation, new employer contribution rates were set at 23.68% of pensionable pay from September 2019 onwards (compared to 16.48% during 2018/19). Whilst the Department for Education has agreed to pay a teacher pension employer contribution grant to cover the additional costs during the 202021 academic year for schools, it has not provided equivalent funding to the Higher Education Sector.

A full copy of the valuation report and supporting documentation can be found on the Teachers’ Pension Scheme website.

The employer’s contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme is £2,904,233 in 2021-22 (2020-21: £2,682,828).

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS)

The institution participates in Universities Superannuation Scheme. The assets of the scheme are held in a separate trusteeadministered fund. Because of the mutual nature of the scheme, the assets are not attributed to individual institutions and a scheme-wide contribution rate is set. The institution is therefore exposed to actuarial risks associated with other institutions’ employees and is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme on a consistent and reasonable basis. As required by Section 28 of FRS 102 “Employee benefits”, the institution therefore accounts for the scheme as if it were a defined contribution scheme. As a result, the amount charged to the profit and loss account represents the contributions payable to the scheme. Since the institution has entered into an agreement (the Recovery Plan) that determines how each employer within the scheme will fund the overall deficit, the institution recognises a liability for the contributions payable that arise from the agreement (to the extent that they relate to the deficit) with related expenses being recognised through the profit and loss account.

The total cost charged to the profit and loss account is £288,000 (2020-21 write back of £41,000) as shown in note 6. Deficit recovery contributions due within one year for the institution are £22,000 (prior year: £15,000).

The latest available complete actuarial valuation of the Retirement Income Builder is as at 31 March 2020 (the valuation date) and was carried out using the projected unit method.

Since the institution cannot identify its share of USS Retirement Income Builder (defined benefit) assets and liabilities, the following disclosures reflect those relevant for those assets and liabilities as a whole.

The 2020 valuation was the sixth valuation for the scheme under the scheme-specific funding regime introduced by the Pensions Act 2004, which requires schemes to have sufficient and appropriate assets to cover their technical provisions. At the valuation date, the value of the assets of the scheme was £66.5 billion and the value of the scheme’s technical provisions was £80.6 billion indicating a shortfall of £14.1 billion and a funding ratio of 83%.

The key financial assumptions used in the 2020 valuation are described below. More detail is set out in the Statement of Funding Principles.

CPI assumption Term dependent rates in line with the difference between the Fixed Interest and Index Linked yield curves less:

1.1% p.a. to 2030, reducing linearly by 0.1% p.a. to a longterm difference of 0.1% p.a. from 2040

Pension increases (subject to a floor of 0%) CPI assumption plus 0.05%

Discount rate (forward rates)

Fixed interest gilt yield curve plus: Pre-retirement: 2.75% p.a.

Post retirement: 1.00% p.a. The main demographic assumptions used relate to the mortality assumptions. These assumptions are based on analysis of the scheme’s experience carried out as part of the 2020 actuarial valuation. The mortality assumptions used in these figures are as follows:

2020 valuation

Mortality base table 101% of S2PMA “light” for males and 95% of S3PFA for females

Future improvements to mortality CMI 2019 with a smoothing parameter of 7.5, an initial addition of 0.5% p.a. and a long-term improvement rate of 1.8% pa for males and 1.6% pa for females

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

The current life expectancies on retirement at age 65 are:

2022 2021

Males currently aged 65 (years) 23.9 24.6

Females currently aged 65 (years) 25.5 26.1

Males currently aged 45 (years) 25.9 26.6

Females currently aged 45 (years) 27.3 27.9

A new deficit recovery plan was put in place as part of the 2020 valuation, which requires payment of 6.2% of salaries over the period 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2024, at which point the rate will increase to 6.3%. The 2022 deficit recovery liability reflects this plan. The liability figures have been produced using the following assumptions:

2022 2021

Discount rate 3.31% 0.87%

Pension increases (CPI) 3.00% 1.50%

Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a defined benefit statutory scheme administered in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 and currently provides benefits based on career average revalued earnings. The administering authority for the Fund is Buckinghamshire County Council.

The Local Government Pension Scheme is valued every three years by a professionally qualified independent actuary using the projected unit method, the rates of contribution payable being determined by the trustees on the advice of the actuary. The next actuarial valuation of the Fund will be carried out as at 31 March 2022 and will set contributions for the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026.

- The table below summarises the minimum employer contributions due from the University to the Fund during this inter-valuation period. The calculation is split between a % contribution of 17.3% (representing the calculated cost of the accrual of future benefits) and an additional monthly amount as set out in the next table:

Minimum employer contribution for the period beginning 1 April 2020 1 April 2021 1 April 2022

Percent of payroll 17.3% 17.3% 17.3%

Plus monetary amount (£000s) 480 500 520

To assess the value of the Employer’s liabilities at 31 July 2022, the value of the liabilities calculated for the funding valuation as at 31 March 2019 have been rolled forward, using financial assumptions that comply with FRS102.

To calculate the asset share the actuary has rolled forward the assets allocated to the Employer as at 31 March 2019 allowing for investment returns, contributions paid into and estimated benefits paid from the Fund by and in respect of the Employer and its employees. The estimated asset allocation for Buckinghamshire New University as at 31 July 2022 is £84.451m (31 July 2021 £86.671m)

The pension scheme assets are held in a separate trustee-administered fund to meet long-term pension liabilities to current and former employees. The trustees are required to act in the best interests of the fund’s beneficiaries. The trustees are responsible for setting the investment strategy for the scheme in consultation with professional advisers.

An amount of £172,000 (2021: £177,000) was paid directly by the University in respect of supplementary pension entitlements of employees taking early retirement at the time of incorporation. The pension liability associated with this commitment is valued in line with the assumptions for the LGPS in the sections below.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Assumptions used in calculating the schemes liabilities under FRS102

Financial assumptions

The financial assumptions used to calculate the results are in the table below.

2022 2021 2020 2019 2018

Salary increases 3.75% 3.80% 3.25% 3.85% 3.85%

Pension increases 2.75% 2.80% 2.25% 2.35% 2.35%

Discount rate applied to scheme liabilities 3.40% 1.60% 1.35% 2.10% 2.65%

These assumptions are set with reference to market conditions at 31 July 2022.

The estimate of the employer’s past service liability duration is 22 years. The discount rate is the annualised yield at the 22 year point on the Merrill Lynch AA-rated corporate bond yield curve which has been chosen to meet the requirements of FRS102 and with consideration of the duration of the Employer’s liabilities.

Demographic assumptions

The current mortality rates allow for a long-term rate of improvement in life expectancy of 1.25% p.a. The assumed life expectations from 65 are as below:

2022 2021 2020 2019 2018

Retiring in 20 years:

Males 22.3 22.9 23.2 24.6 26.3 Females 26.0 26.4 26.6 26.6 28.4

Retiring Today:

Males 21.0 21.6 21.8 22.9 24 Females 24.5 25.0 25.1 24.8 26.1

Scheme assets and expected rate of return

The return on the Fund (on a bid value to bid value basis) for the year to 31 July 2022 is estimated to be (4.28)%. The actual return on Fund assets over the year may be different.

Management have relied on the fund administrators to calculate return on the investments which are made based on systematic investment plan prepared by the Buckinghamshire LGPS. There is therefore inherent estimation uncertainty in the value of the fund assets at 31 July 2022 given that the asset values are rolled forward from the latest reporting year of the fund, allowing for investment returns (estimated where necessary), contributions paid into, and estimated benefits paid from, the fund, by and in respect of the University and its employees. A change of 1% in the asset value would increase / decrease the valuation of the University's pension fund asset by £834k.

Based on the estimated asset allocation, the Employer’s share of the assets of the Fund is approximately 2.21%.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

The estimated asset allocation for Buckinghamshire New University as at 31 July 2022 is as follows:

Asset breakdown

Year to 31 July 2022

Year to 31 July 2021 £'000s % £'000s %

Gilts 7,260 9% 8,126 9%

Equities 45,879 55% 47,086 54%

Other Bonds 11,245 13% 12,144 14%

Property 5,453 7% 5,039 6%

Cash 2,357 3% 1,169 1%

Alternative Assets 2,910 3% 1,004 1%

Hedge Funds n/a n/a 3,959 5%

Absolute Return Portfolio n/a n/a 8,144 9%

Multi Asset Credit 7,498 9% n/a n/a

Private debt 755 1% n/a n/a

Total 83,357 100% 86,671 100%

Re-measurements in other comprehensive income:

Re-measurement of the net assets / (net liabilities)

Year to 31 July 2022 Year to 31 July 2021 £'000 £'000

Return on Fund assets in excess of interest (5,106) 10,616

Change in financial assumptions 56,396 (8,647)

Change in demographic assumptions 4,221 1,789

Experience gain / (loss) on defined benefit obligation (9,249) 2,818

Re-measurement of the net assets / (defined liability) 46,262 6,576

The amounts recognised in the SOCIE are:

Year to 31 July 2022

Year to 31 July 2021 £'000 £'000

Service cost (7,127) (5,838)

Administration expenses (65) (63)

Net interest on the defined liability (1,032) (902)

Total Loss (8,224) (6,803)

Negative figures represent costs to the University

Movement in net pension liability during the year:

Year to 31 July 2022

Year to 31 July 2021 £'000 £'000

Deficit in scheme at beginning of year (65,766) (68,034)

Current service costs (7,127) (5,838)

Employer contributions paid 2,511 2,318

Unfunded pension payments 172 177

Other finance costs (1,032) (902)

Administration Expenses (65) (63)

Remeasurement of the net assets/ (defined liability) 46,262 6,576

Net pension liability at end of year (25,045) (65,766)

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Reconciliation of the movement of the present value of the defined benefit obligation:

Year to 31 July 2022 Year to 31 July 2021

£'000 £'000

Opening defined benefit obligation (152,437) (142,473)

Current service costs (7,127) (5,838)

Interest cost (2,422) (1,911)

Change in financial assumptions 56,396 (8,647)

Change in demographic assumptions 4,221 1,789

Experience loss/(gain) on defined benefit obligation (9,249) 2,818

Estimated benefits paid (net of transfers in) 2,863 2,387

Contributions by scheme participants (819) (739)

Unfunded pension payments 172 177

Closing defined benefit obligation (108,402) (152,437)

Analysis of the movement in the fair value of scheme assets:

Year to 31 July 2022 Year to 31 July 2021

£'000 £'000

Opening fair value of scheme assets 86,671 74,439

Interest on assets 1,390 1,009

Return on assets less interest (5,106) 10,616

Administration expenses (65) (63)

Contributions by employer including unfunded 2,683 2,495

Contributions by scheme participants and other employers 819 739

Estimated benefits paid plus unfunded net of transfers in (3,035) (2,564)

Closing fair value of Scheme assets 83,357 86,671

History of experience gains and losses:

2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Present value of scheme liabilities 108,402 152,437 142,473 118,991 107,760

Fair value of scheme assets 83,357 86,671 74,439 66,203 63,195

Net liability in balance sheet (25,045) (65,766) (68,034) (52,788) (44,565)

Experience adjustments on scheme liabilities (9,249) 2,818 (3,149) (276) -

Experience adjustments on scheme assets - - - - -

The University has elected not to restate prior year amounts as permitted by FRS102.The employer contributions to the scheme for the year to 31 July 2022 is £2,332,000.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Sensitivity Analysis

The following table sets out a sensitivity analysis on the major assumptions which have been used in the above calculations:

Sensitivity Analysis £000s £000s £000s

Adjustment to discount rate: +0.1% 0.0% -0.1%

Present value of total obligation 106,105 108,402 110,751 Projected service cost 3,333 3,469 3,608

Adjustment to long term salary increase: +0.1% 0.0% -0.1%

Present value of total obligation 108,539 108,402 108,267

Projected service cost 3,471 3,469 3,466

Adjustment to pension increases and deferred revaluation +0.1% 0.0% -0.1%

Present value of total obligation 110,628 108,402 106,224

Projected service cost 3,609 3,469 3,333

Adjustment to life expectancy assumptions +1 Year None -1 Year

Present value of total obligation 112,452 108,402 104,509 Projected service cost 3,599 3,469 3,341

Recent changes in global and UK economic pressures and tightening of monetary policy have had a significant impact on asset markets and corporate bonds yields, which are key to the FRS102 assessment of the net pension asset or liability. In particular, AA corporate bond yields, used to set the FRS102 discount rate, have increased significantly since 31 July 2022, with corresponding falls in asset values. The markets have been exceptionally volatile and therefore while both gross defined benefit obligations and assets will have fallen, it is difficult to estimate the impact of these changes on the net balance sheet position.

27 Related party transactions

Certain members of the Council are associated with other organisations that may from time to time undertake transactions with the University or its subsidiaries. All such transactions are undertaken on an arm’s length basis and in accordance with the University’s normal terms. No member of the Council has any financial interest in such transactions, nor is such other organisations related parties of the University or its subsidiaries.

As all subsidiary undertakings are wholly owned, the University has taken advantage of the exemption contained in FRS 102 and has therefore not disclosed transactions or balances with entities which form part of the group.

The following payments were made to or received from organisations in which two of the University's Board of Governors and Advisors have a material role and / or controlling interest:

Year to 31 July 2022 Year to 31 July 2021

Organisation Role at related party Nature of transaction Income / (Payment) Debtor/ (Creditor) Balance

Professor Nick Braisby: GuildHE

Executive Board Member

Income / (Payment) Debtor/ (Creditor) Balance

Membership fees (25,800) - (21,810) -

Andy Cole: Royal Star & Garter Chief Executive Rental of car park spaces 5,760 - 4,800 480

No other transactions were identified which require disclosure under FRS 102, Section 33, ‘Related Party Disclosures’

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

The University is a member of Chiltern Student Villages Ltd. There is no controlling party. The charitable company was set up in July 2008 for the transfer, development, provision and management of student accommodation at the University.

Bucks Students’ Union is an independent organisation largely funded by the University. During the 2021-22 financial year the Union was in receipt of £1.662m (2020-21 £1.542m) of grant funding from the University.

At 31 July 2022, the University had a creditor with the Students’ Union of £790k and a debtor of £88k.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

28 US Department of Education required disclosure

The following table is provided soley in satisfaction of the university’s obligations to facilitate access to US federal financial aid as required by the US Department of Education, and has been prepared and presented in-line with their specific requirements. All figures presented are based upon FRS 102 recognition and measurement principles, in line with the statement of accounting policies, and are presented in GBP. It is not advised that it be used for any other purpose and all values within it can be found elsewhere within these financial statements.

The schedules set out how each amount disclosed has been extracted from the financial statements. As set out above, the accounting policies used in determining the amounts disclosed are not intended to and do not comply with the requirements of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Ref: Primary Reserve Ratio

Expendable Net Assets Expendable Net Assets

Balance sheetUnrestricted Reserves Net assets without donor restrictions 75,637 21,820

Balance sheet - Restricted Reserves Net assets with donor restrictions 13 13

N/A Secured and Unsecured related party receivable - -

N/A Unsecured related party receivable - -

Note 11

Property, plant and equipment, net (includes Construction in progress)

72,135 71,451

Note 11

Property, plant and equipment - pre-implementation 66,882 69,516

N/A Property, plant and equipment - post-implementation with outstanding debt for original purchase

Note 11

Property, plant and equipment - post-implementation without outstanding debt for original purchase

- -

1,142 1,935

Note 11 Construction in progress 4,111 -

Note 11 Lease right-of-use asset, net 27,425 27,432

Note 11 Lease right-of-use asset preimplementation 27,425 27,432

N/A Lease right-of-use asset postimplementation - -

N/A Goodwill - -

Note 10

Intangible assets 1,516 1,926

Note 19 Post-employment and pension liabilities 25,045 65,766

Note 18

Note 18

Long-term debt - for long term purposes 20,310 21,013

Long-term debt - for long term purposes pre-implementation 20,310 21,013

N/A Long-term debt - for long term purposes post-implementation - -

N/A Line of Credit for Construction in process - -

Note 17, 18

Lease right-of-use asset liability 18,444 18,991

Note 17, 18 Pre-implementation right-of-use leases 18,444 18,991

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Continued.

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Ref: Primary Reserve Ratio Expendable Net Assets Expendable Net Assets

N/A Post-implementation right-ofuse leases - -

N/A Annuities with donor restrictions - -

N/A Term endowments with donor restrictions - -

N/A Life income funds with donor restrictions - -

N/A Net assets with donor restrictions: restricted in perpetuity

- -

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Ref: Primary Reserve Ratio Total Expenses and Losses Total Expenses and Losses

Note 7

Total expenses without donor restrictions - taken directly from Statement of Activities

Note 5, 26

161,466 148,021

Non-Operating and Net Investment (loss) (46,318) (9,414)

Note 5 Net investment losses (56) (16)

N/A Pension-related changes other than net periodic costs - -

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Ref: Equity Ratio

Balance sheetUnrestricted Reserves

Modified Net Assets Modified Net Assets

Net assets without donor restrictions 75,637 21,820

Balance sheet - Restricted Reserves Net assets with donor restrictions 13 13

N/A Intangible assets - -

N/A Secured and Unsecured related party receivable - -

N/A Unsecured related party receivable - -

Notes to the Accounts

Year ended 31 July 2022

Year ended 31 July 2022 Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Ref: Equity Ratio Modified Assets Modified Assets

Lines 4, 9 Balance Sheet Total Assets 181,784 155,577

Note 11 Lease right-of-use asset preimplementation 27,425 27,432

Note 17, 18 Pre-implementation right-of-use leases 18,444 18,991

N/A Intangible assets - -

N/A Secured and Unsecured related party receivable - -

N/A Unsecured related party receivable - -

Year ended 31 July 2022

Ref: Net Income Ratio

Balance sheetUnrestricted Reserves

Year ended 31 July 2021

Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Change in Net Assets Without Donor Restrictions 53,817 12,835

Lines 6, 14 SOCIE Total Revenue and Gains 169,021 151,458

University Council and advisors

Independent & Co-opted Council Members

Maggie Galliers CBE Independent Chair and Pro-Chancellor Appointed 1 August 2021

Irene Kirkman Independent

Steve Kemett Co-opted

Sadie Groom Independent

Appointed 1 August 2021

Jackie Westaway Independent Appointed 1 August 2021

Anthony Murphy Independent

Dr Susan Rosser Independent

Bob Shennan Independent Resigned 31 December 2021

John Smith Independent Supriya Sobti Independent

Andy Cole OBE Independent

Annet Gamell Independent

Karen Satterford Independent

Anna Crabtree Independent

Jordan Penning Co-opted member (student)

Term of office ended 31 July 2021

Emily Crawshaw Co-opted member (student) Appointed 1 August 2021

University Council Members

Professor Nick Braisby Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive

Professor Florin Ioras Elected Senate Member

Professor Paul Morgan Senate Chair’s Nomination to Honorary Awards Committee

Emma Binnie Elected Professional Services Employee Appointed 1 August 2020

Ze’ev Portner Academic Staff (elected) Appointed 1 August 2021

Hillary Mullen Academic Staff (elected) Appointed 1 December 2021

Honor Fletcher President, BNU Students' Union Term of office commenced 1 July 2021

University Executive Team

Professor Nick Braisby

Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive

Professor Gavin Brooks Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Resigned April 2022

Professor Rachel Cragg Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Digital Trevor Gabriele Chief Finance Officer

Ellie Smith University Secretary and Clerk to the Council Ian Harper Commercial and Business Development Director