Several UK universities have announced plans to cut thousands of jobs to save money due to budget deficits.
Cardiff and Durham, both prestigious Russell Group universities, are among the institutions restructuring departments and cutting costs this year.
The Office for Students (OfS) predicted financial shortfalls across higher education in November 2024. Tuition fees are set to increase for students this autumn by £285 to £9,535 a year, but universities say this is still insufficient to address serious funding issues, particularly after a hike in National Insurance for employers was announced in the government’s Autumn Budget.
The University of Edinburgh announced in November 2024 that staff should expect job cuts and redundancies in future. Principal Sir Peter Mathieson stated that the University of Edinburgh costs £120m per month to run, and finances are being stretched for the institution to continue operating.
Durham University said it plans to cut 200 jobs this year to reduce staff costs by £10 million.
Cardiff University said that the institution plans to cut 400 full-time jobs, alongside cutting courses and degree programmes. Degrees in music and nursing are at risk of closure, with other classes merging to create new schools within the university.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has spoken out against Cardiff’s plans to suspend nursing degrees at the university. Helen Whyley, Executive Director of RCN Wales, said the move “undermines efforts to address the critical staffing crisis in the NHS and social care.”
Charlie, a second-year Environmental Geography student at Cardiff, told The Student that:
“As a geography student, I’m concerned that merging the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences into Natural Sciences could mean less specialised support for my field. I worry that expertise and funding for earth science research might get diluted within a bigger department, impacting the quality and depth of my studies.”
Unions and campaign groups have criticised both universities’ job cuts and a lack of intervention from the UK Government. One vice-chancellor said, “If the BBC or John Lewis was cutting 5,000 or 6,000 jobs, we’d hear all about it, but what we’re seeing in universities isn’t being noticed.”
Jo Grady, General Secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), has called for “urgent action” from the government to protect the academic reputation of livelihoods and universities.
On Thursday 6 February, Cardiff UCU voted to hold a vote of no confidence in the Vice Chancellor’s leadership.
Westminster has yet to intervene in universities’ financial problems.
Back in July, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said that universities should independently “manage their budgets” after the UCU called for the government to bail out institutions.
UCU Scotland held a rally at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 29 January to call for Holyrood to “Save Higher Education.”
It is yet to be determined precisely how the University of Edinburgh will address its budget deficit this year.
“Cardiff University – geograph.org.uk – 2101364” by M J Richardson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.