Director (Strategy)

The proposed 6% levy on international fees marks a 

This isn't just policy change—it’s a commercial stress test.

, we’re already supporting institutions to mitigate impact and plan with confidence. Our fee-setting reviews consistently (and conservatively) unlock 

For universities with strong international recruitment, this is an opportunity to 

review, refine, and reinforce commercial strategy

This is about margin protection and future resilience.

Universities that act now will be best positioned to:

Let’s explore how your institution can respond strategically—and turn uncertainty into opportunity.

Ready for the 6% Levy?

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting to BUFDG on a pivotal topic: how optimizing fees and scholarships can be a game-changer for addressing the current financial challenges faced by the HE sector.

Universities are missing out on millions in potential surplus. Fee Calibration: Insufficient and poorly calibrated fee points are costing the sector significant revenue. Scholarship Targeting: Scholarships that are poorly profiled and badly targeted represent a costly missed opportunity.

 Correctly profiling scholarships can significantly enhance income certainty and promote social equity – all for the same investment. 

The data and insights needed to uncover unrealized surplus from fees and exponentially increase ROI from scholarship investments is available.

The questions post-presentation were insightful and I’m pleased to confirm:

Applicability: This strategy can benefit HEIs of any size. 

Data Accessibility: Data is available for all HEIs. 

Price Sensitivity: Our analysis comprehensively covers price sensitivity. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the discussion. The conversation has already developed and I’m looking forward to hearing from more colleagues to explore the opportunities further.

How optimizing fees and scholarships can be a game-changer

Director of Data Science

In 2020, S2 developed the first iteration of our Course and Tuition Fee database, designed to be comprehensive, timely, accurate and to standardise the tuition fee landscape with new metrics.

Building on the success of our flagship product, we are pleased to launch a new, sector-first product focusing on Postgraduate Research courses.

Our PGR Course and Tuition Fee database is built using the same data science-led methodology as our flagship database. Closely resembling our Postgraduate Taught portion of the database, we collect and standardise all Postgraduate Research courses at UK higher education institutions. This includes both level 7 (e.g., MRes and MPhil) and level 8 offerings (e.g., PhD, DBA).

Our new database includes all Home and International fees, a course index, a new course level flag to indicate master’s and doctorate level study, subject coding, course URLs, delivery mode, duration as well as our original standardised metrics: a primary key for continuity between releases, a course flag to indicate new or discontinued offerings and fields that standardise the reported fee for integration into Business Intelligence tools.

The first release of the PGR Course and Tuition Fee database will be available after UK higher education institutions confirm their Home fee, which is usually in line with UKRI fees.

If you are interested in a demonstration or sample, please get in touch via the form below.

Announcing our Course and Tuition Fee Database: Postgraduate Research Edition

We provide accurate, timely and usable insights to help universities make key business decision.

Transforming higher education decision making

Our flagship Course and Tuition Fees Database includes a comprehensive list of all UK undergraduate and postgraduate taught higher education courses, award types, granular subject groupings and primary data keys for seamless data integration.

Tuition Fees Database

One of our key areas of specialism is tuition fee setting and helping Universities secure ‘unrealised surplus’ from fee income, leveraging the power of our uniquely detailed fee database and our experience working in the sector.

Tuition Fees Review

In addition to tuition fee setting, our Dashboard is an excellent tool for Entry Requirement Setting, Portfolio Reviews and New Programme Development, with full interactivity and customisation available.

Tuition Fees Dashboard

The Financial Awards Audit (FAA) was born from direct experience of how these multi-million-pound investments have been underdeveloped, neglected, and even become counter-productive, across the sector. 

Financial Awards Audit

Our team includes sector practitioners and expert data scientists with key remits including bespoke data collections and analysis, statistical and probability modelling, business intelligence dashboard analysis and predictive analytics.

Bespoke Data Science Solutions

S Squared Insights Limited (S2) is a Data Science company providing expert support to universities on key business decisions. S2 was founded by practitioners who understand the unique characteristics of the sector. We are a trusted partner of half of the Russell Group and a growing number of non-RG universities.