The future of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities within UK higher education is becoming an increasingly important question for universities, policymakers and academic leaders. While subjects in these areas continue to represent a significant proportion of higher education study, the landscape of provision is changing, with some disciplines expanding, while others face course closures, staff reductions and growing regional inequalities.
The British Academy’s SHAPE Observatory provides a valuable picture of these changes. Its analysis shows that these disciplines accounted for 57% of all UK higher education enrolments in 2024/25, representing around 1.6 million students and an overall 23% increase since 2015/16. This demonstrates that demand for these subject areas remains substantial. However, looking beyond the headline figures reveals a more complex picture.
A changing pattern of provision
Over recent years, universities have faced significant financial pressures, including rising operating costs, changes in international student recruitment, constraints on domestic tuition fee income and wider financial sustainability challenges. These pressures have increasingly influenced decisions about which courses and subjects universities can continue to offer.
The British Academy’s mapping of provision between 2011/12 and 2024/25 highlights a contraction in provision across a number of disciplines. However, the impact is not simply about the number of courses available nationally. It is increasingly about where those courses are available.
The emergence of regional ‘cold spots’
The British Academy has identified growing areas of the UK where students cannot access particular subjects within a reasonable commuting distance. These ‘cold spots’ are particularly concerning because more than half of UK undergraduates now study close to home, with students from disadvantaged backgrounds especially likely to remain local.
This means that the closure of a course can have consequences beyond an individual institution. Where provision disappears from a region entirely, students may face the choice of relocating, changing their subject or not entering higher education at all.
The issue is particularly pronounced for lower-tariff provision, which is often delivered by teaching-focused institutions serving local and less mobile student populations. As a result, access to education risks becoming increasingly dependent on where a student lives and their ability to move elsewhere.
What does the future hold?
Provision across subjects in Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities remains central to UK higher education and continues to provide the skills, knowledge and critical perspectives required across business, government, education, culture and the wider economy. However, the nature and distribution of provision is changing.
The challenge for universities and policymakers will be to balance financial sustainability with the need to maintain a diverse and accessible academic landscape. This may require greater collaboration between institutions, innovative approaches to course delivery and a stronger focus on protecting subjects where provision is becoming particularly vulnerable.
For DASSH UK and its members, the question is therefore not simply whether Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities will have a future in higher education – they clearly will. The more important question is what that future will look like, who will have access to it, and how the sector can ensure that the breadth and diversity of education is maintained across all parts of the UK.
As financial, technological and societal pressures continue to reshape higher education, ensuring that courses within Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities remain sustainable, accessible and valued will be essential to the future of the UK’s universities and the communities they serve.