It also spent £2.2m more on travel, £1.1m more on marketing, and an extra £2.6m on property maintenance, while rent increased by £2.6m, utility bills by £3m and software costs by £2.9m.
Bad debt costs relating to late tuition fee payments jumped by £6.4m.
A source close to the university insisted that Coventry remained in a strong financial position and is not at risk of collapse.
Meanwhile, the accounts of South Bank University show a similarly troubling picture, as it swung from a £1.5m surplus in 2022 to a £16.4m deficit in 2023.
Though the university posted a slight rise in income from £199.1m to £201.9m, expenditure spiralled to £218.4m from £197.6m. It borrowed a further £8m to fund investment at the same time as the level of unpaid tuition fees leapt by £14.1m to £41.2m.
Despite an admission that the university “did not meet its overall financial target”, David Phoenix, the vice chancellor, was awarded a £10,000 bonus, taking his overall pay for the year to £322,000 from £305,000 in 2022.
Budget challenges ‘no secret’
Simon Stibbons, a restructuring expert at Kroll, said: “It is no secret that higher education institutions are facing severe budgetary challenges over the next 12 to 18 months.
“The recent announcement around fee increases will not be sufficient to address these issues and there are likely to be more severe challenges for the sector over the coming months.”
A spokesman for London South Bank said: “London South Bank University has a robust financial plan: underlined by a strong asset base. Whilst the higher education sector continues to face external challenges, we have exceeded our planned student numbers and are performing above our budget target.”
A spokesman for the OfS added: “The financial sustainability of the higher education sector continues to be a priority for the OfS and we set out the challenges facing the sector in our recent report.
“Engagement with institutions is a routine part of our work – we work with individual institutions to understand their financial position and their plans to respond to, and address, financial risks.
“We do not comment on any ongoing regulatory activity with individual universities and our work with any particular institution cannot be viewed as an indication of its financial position.”
The Government was contacted for comment. Coventry declined to comment.
