Universities UK (UUK) polled vice-chancellors on the coming fiscal trade-offs as funding stress persists, finding leaders anticipate cuts to hardship support for impoverished students and reductions to outreach for disadvantaged groups over the next three years. The poll also suggests widespread belt-tightening, including hiring freezes, voluntary redundancies, and potential compulsory job cuts. For campus leaders, the warning signals that student support models—especially those tied to emergency hardship grants and recruitment of underrepresented students—may face rapid contraction if funding conditions do not improve. The development also puts pressure on institutions to plan for continuity in student success services while they simultaneously manage workforce and operating cuts.