More degree subjects are likely to face extinction unless changes are made to competition laws to allow universities to work together to maintain certain courses, experts have said.

As universities increasingly close courses in response to financial pressures, higher education leaders?continue to perceive competition law as a barrier?to collaboration despite signals from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it is broadly supportive of some level of beneficial partnerships within the sector.

Earlier this year, the CMA said it was ¡°working with the sector and the government to understand concerns that may be preventing higher education providers from working together¡±.

In particular, universities have warned about their inability to address the disappearance of courses in some regions due to competition laws that prevent a group of providers from coming together to decide which institution could offer certain courses.

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In a??to the House of Commons Education Select Committee inquiry into university finances, the regulator spelled out how competition law might apply where higher education providers collaborate on course provision.

It said ¡°some joint arrangements¡± may not raise competition law concerns, such as in the case of ¡°courses that are offered on a national basis and where students have considerable choice of providers offering a particular course¡±.

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It continued: ¡°However, there may be some types of coordination on course provision, such as agreeing on whether to close particular types of course within an area, which have a greater potential to raise competition concerns.

¡°For example, where higher education providers who would otherwise compete for students come together to agree between themselves who will keep providing and who will stop providing a particular course, this has the potential to restrict competition between the providers and decrease the incentive to keep quality high.¡±

It said that deciding whether a collaboration raises issues would depend on the extent to which the providers were actually in competition, which could be judged on factors like the similarity of entry requirements and whether they attract students from the same area.

Paul Greatrix, former rector at the University of Nottingham, said this position means that instead of working collaboratively to ensure the continued provision of threatened courses, such as?modern languages, ¡°universities don¡¯t talk to each other¡± and courses could potentially disappear from entire regions. A THE?analysis earlier this year found 4,000 courses have closed since last year.?

¡°That doesn¡¯t seem to be in anyone¡¯s interest at all,¡± Greatrix said.

Greatrix, now director of higher education consultancy at Shakespeare Martineau, suggested the best solution may be for the CMA to back away from the sector, unless it becomes clear institutions are ¡°behaving badly¡±.

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¡°Universities generally do not act anti-competitively because it¡¯s not their nature,¡± he said.

There has been a ¡°real anxiety¡± among universities about competition laws since they first began to apply to the sector in the 2010s, he said, warning this fear may be exacerbated by the regulator¡¯s growing interest in universities.

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¡°By [the CMA¡¯s] repeated statements about wanting to understand more and offer more advice, actually what they are doing is having this cooling effect on the potential for collaboration.¡±

Alternatively, he suggested the CMA should tell the government this kind of collaboration could be excluded from the Competitions Act in the way public transport ticketing is.

¡°By not allowing subjects to disappear altogether or indeed from a region, you¡¯re actually acting in¡­the best interests of students and the nation,¡± he said.

In its submission, the CMA said there may be cases for individual exemptions where there are ¡°wider benefits or efficiencies generated by the collaboration¡± and where consumers ¨C in this case, students ¨C will benefit.

Ken Sloan, vice-chancellor of Harper Adams University, which runs a veterinary school in partnership with Keele University, said ¡°brilliant outcomes can be delivered for students when institutions collaborate and mobilise their collective strengths¡±.

He continued, ¡°My concern is that the fear of getting it wrong or being called out for experimenting risks limiting the full force of collaboration in the sector.

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¡°As institutions for the public good, the collaborative motivations of HE institutions should not be confused with commercial services and products,¡± said Sloan, who chairs sector body GuildHE.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com