Royal Holloway vice-chancellor says higher education sector must avoid unintended consequences of financially-driven decisionsUniversity funding and regulatory bodies must consider the impact course closures are having on research activity across the UK, the vice-chancellor of Royal Holloway, University of London has said. Sanders said she believes that Research England understands it needs to collaborate with the Office for Students “to think collectively so that we don’t [see] decisions about course closures in one area [without considering] research impacts”. She said she modelled Royal Holloway’s research strategy for 2030, which focuses on the university’s areas of research strength, on close analysis of its research impact studies. Sanders said Royal Holloway was not as severely impacted by the cut as other specialist institutions—especially those focused on the arts and creative industries. For example, Royal Holloway “sits across two boundaries here at our Egham campus, Berkshire and Surrey, both of which can be perceived to be thriving and affluent,” she said.