Fifty higher education providers at risk of exiting market in England, MPs told

Regulator says 24 are at more immediate risk and may have to stop degree courses within next 12 months

Fifty higher education providers in England are at risk of exiting the market within the next two to three years, MPs on the House of Commons education committee have been told as part of their inquiry into university funding and the threat of insolvency.

The evidence follows last week's gloomy forecast from England's higher education regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), which warned that three in four universities were likely to be in the red next year as financial turmoil continues in the sector.