How and when does the University set its budget?

Schools and other University Institutions are expected to produce strategic plans. These plans set medium- to long-term priorities and explain how they are to be implemented. The strategic plans are accompanied by detailed financial forecasts.

Although the strategic plans are only updated periodically, the financial forecasts are revisited annually in the Planning Round. The financial forecasts for Schools and all other institutions are consolidated to provide a University level financial forecast which forms part of the Budget Report (formerly called the Allocations Report). This includes the allocation of Chest funding to Schools and Institutions. 

To meet the OfS requirement that the University operates sustainably, the Budget Report is not just a consolidation of Schools’ and other Institutions’ financial forecast submissions. This is because financial forecasts at this level represent their Institution’s aspirations. The Planning & Resources Committee (PRC) will consider the University’s total expenditure plans in the context of its estimated future income and may need to cap some (or all) institutional expenditure plans by containing the allocation of Chest funding to Schools and individual institutions. It is this iterative review process which generates the final numbers in the Budget Report.

The Summary Timetable for the Planning Round and Budget Report shows the main stages of the Planning Round.

Summary Timetable for Planning Round and Budget Report