SAVE THE DATE! Wednesday 4 February 2026.
The SUMS Annual Conference, originally planned for 20 November 2025, will now take place on Wednesday 4 February 2026.
This change is part of a strategic shift in our events calendar, helping us better support the planning needs of our members and the sector, and create the space needed to deliver a truly impactful event.
Join us for the SUMS Consulting Annual Conference 2026 as we invite delegates to explore alternative futures and consider how we rightsize, refocus and rebuild not just our own institutions, but the UK HE sector as a whole.
SUMS Annual Conference 2026
You can’t just cut your way to strategic success. Long-term success depends on aligning institutional ambitions with financial realities and strategic goals. Real change requires understanding the academic portfolio’s financial viability, aligning offerings with market demand, and exploring third-stream income. Institutions must rethink their models, simplify their structures, and embrace shared services and mergers where they will deliver long-term efficiencies.
Rightsize. Refocus. Rebuild
UK higher education is in crisis, with widespread redundancies and restructures across the sector. Rising costs, poor systems integration, and often overcomplicated academic models have left universities struggling, especially with declining international student income. While the government urges efficiency, many institutions remain trapped in a spiral of short-term fixes rather than pursuing genuine transformation.
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