A third of English universities are in deficit. Your brand architecture is about to be tested.

In August 2026, the universities of Greenwich and Kent became a single legal entity, the London and South East University Group. It has more than 50,000 students across four campuses, one founding vice-chancellor and one balance sheet, yet students still apply to, study at and graduate from Greenwich or Kent. It’s the first group of its kind in the UK, and it was designed so that others can join. King’s College London and Cranfield have already announced plans to combine in 2027.

The financial backdrop explains why. The Office for Students reports that 35.8% of English providers ran a deficit in 2024-25, and 119 (42.7%) forecast one for 2025-26. In its most severe scenario, up to 196 providers, 70% of the sector, would be in deficit by 2028-29. The regulator itself now says some institutions may need new business models, “including mergers and other forms of consolidation”. When that reaches a governing body, the conversation stops being hypothetical.

The brand questions nobody plans for

Most consolidation is designed by finance and legal teams, for good reasons. But every structural option carries a reputational consequence, and those are usually discovered late.

Do both names survive, or does one absorb the other? What does a graduate’s certificate say? How do research partners, international agents and alumni react when the institution they know is now part of something else? What happens to each university’s position in league tables, which depend on data that may be combined or reported differently? And how does a member of staff explain the change to a worried student at a careers fair?

Greenwich and Kent chose to keep both brands within a group. That’s a sensible answer for them, but it isn’t automatically right for everyone, and the choice deserves the same rigour as the financial model.

Every structural option in a merger carries a reputational consequence, and most are discovered far too late.

What I’d ask every marketing director to do

Know your brand equity before anyone asks. Measure how each audience in each priority market sees you today. If a merger or partnership is proposed, you’ll need evidence of what’s at stake, not instinct.

Get into the room early. Brand architecture options (one name, endorsed brands or a family of separate names) should be modelled alongside the financial options, not after the decision has been made.

Bring realism to the recruitment forecast. The OfS found that international entrants fell 7.7% in 2024-25, 9% below what providers had forecast, yet the sector still projects 22.5% growth by 2028-29. Marketing knows the markets better than anyone, and a merger case built on optimistic numbers is a reputational risk in its own right.

Protect the student promise. Applicants and current students need to know, quickly and plainly, what changes and what doesn’t. Uncertainty spreads faster than any announcement.

Tell staff first. Colleagues are your most trusted messengers, and they’ll hear rumours long before the press release. Give them the facts and the words to explain them.

A moment to simplify

Handled badly, consolidation confuses everyone who matters to a university. Handled well, it’s a rare chance to clarify what each institution stands for, cut duplication and tell a stronger, simpler story about why the combination makes sense.

It’s one of the leadership questions I most want to explore with guests on Season 2 of the podcast, because the next wave of decisions is coming quickly, and the institutions that prepare their brand thinking now will make far better ones.

Jonathan Sabarre FCIM MBA is Principal Consultant at QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a keynote speaker and host of Marketing Greats in Higher Education. Get the weekly email or invite him to speak.