A UK fiscal event has triggered an emergency Scottish Government budget revision. The Scottish Funding Council is preparing the deepest cuts to higher education in two decades. As Principal of the University of Scotia West, you have six turns to navigate the institution through what may be the hardest year the Scottish sector has faced.
This scenario is set at a fictional Scottish post-92 university whose context — multi-campus civic mission, widening participation leadership, controlled-subject nursing provision, recent industrial action history, structural deficit — reflects sector-wide conditions in 2026-27. The crisis is external. None of the choices test individual leadership; every option represents a coherent strategic response to genuinely difficult circumstances.
Total income
£171m
2026-27, declining
Existing deficit
£14m
Before this crisis
Total staff
2,000
Across five campuses
University of Scotia West · Strategic Crisis Scenario