Collaborating in times of crisis: what do higher education providers need to know?

In a speech delivered in May 2025, Juliette Enser, Executive Director for Competition Enforcement at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), acknowledged that the regulator had been engaging with universities to understand whether concerns about competition law might be discouraging lawful and economically beneficial cooperation. Shortly after, the CMA published a blog setting out high-level commentary on how universities might collaborate without infringing competition law.

More recently, Universities UK has released Transformation and Efficiency Taskforce: 'Towards a New Era of Collaboration'. The report urges providers to consider shared services, joint delivery and structural changes. Among other things, the report characterises collaboration as a strategic necessity and calls for the government to create a regulatory framework that is more supportive of collaboration between providers.

The UK competition regime

While the CMA’s blog post strikes an encouraging tone, providers must remember that the substantive legal framework remains unchanged.

Under Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998, agreements between undertakings that have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction, or distortion of competition are prohibited unless they satisfy certain exemption criteria.

In its 2023 Guidance on Horizontal Agreements, the CMA outlines the circumstances in which undertakings (including providers) can collaborate lawfully. The guidance emphasises that a case-by-case analysis will be necessary to determine whether the exchange of information constitutes a restriction of competition.

This remains a complex area. Providers face the challenge of unlocking the benefits of strategic collaboration without breaking the law. The key takeaway is that any collaboration must be carefully structured, and providers should ideally seek legal advice at an early stage to assess competition law risks. 

CMA commentary and caution

The CMA blog reiterated that there are many areas where collaborations are beneficial and pose no competition law risks. It lists the following as examples of beneficial collaboration that are unlikely to give rise to competition law concerns:

• Jointly purchasing certain good or services in areas such as buying equipment or wellbeing services
• Sharing certain services and infrastructure such as back-office functions, libraries, sports facilities or data centres for AI research
• Working together to facilitate student and staff movement from one provider to another – for example, if a course is closed
• Discussing the possibility of merging with another provider
• Participating in conversations with government, regulators, and public bodies about improvements to policy and regulation to support the sector – for example, on delivering the right skills provision or on the focus of research efforts.

These examples are illustrative, and a provider considering collaboration must ensure that:

• The collaboration serves a legitimate and clearly defined objective
• The initiative is assessed for its impact on competition
• The anticipated collaborative benefits cannot be achieved unilaterally
• Competition is not restricted beyond what is strictly necessary to achieve the beneficial goals of the collaboration
• Any exchange of competitively sensitive information (such as pricing, recruitment or market strategy) is handled with extreme caution and in full compliance with competition law and the CMA’s Guidance on Horizontal Agreements.

The CMA’s blog does not constitute formal guidance and certain areas remain ambiguous, such as the possibility of collaborative course provision and strategic dialogue between senior leadership teams. Coordinated guidance from the CMA and national HE regulators would be welcome in this area.

Looking ahead

Strategic collaboration may be essential for sector sustainability, especially among small and specialist providers, but it must be done lawfully. Providers considering collaboration are encouraged to:

• Clearly define the objective and scope of any proposed collaboration
• Conduct a competition law risk assessment at the outset
• Seek legal advice before progressing discussions that may raise competition law concerns.

There is a growing need for sector-specific guidance from the CMA and national HE regulators. Until then, providers should proceed with caution. 

For more information, please contact Liz Smillie in our Higher Education team at 0117 992 9210.