The University of Edinburgh (UoE) dropped eight places to 25th in the UK university ranking, possibly due to £140m in cuts to university spending.
Senior management said the decision to make cuts equivalent to 10 per cent of annual spending will keep the University on a sustainable footing amid rising costs at the institution, which are outpacing income.
Students have felt the impact as the Edinburgh University Student Association (EUSA) launched a form for students to report the effects of cuts.
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson told the BBC that to make these cuts, “We need radical university-wide actions, which will lead to a smaller staff base and lower operating costs.” A previous email of his claimed “nothing” would be off the table to save costs.
The University and College Union (UCU) called the news “shocking” and suggested that the UoE should draw on its £3.1 Bn in net assets to cover this deficit, rather than cutting jobs and courses or ruining the University’s global reputation.
These cuts led to lecturers and other staff walking out, with the union stating its members had “no choice” due to comments made by Prof Sir Peter Mathieson, and to up to 1,800 jobs being at risk, meaning the University would be down about 10 per cent of its staff.
This has negatively affected students as lecturers are given large workloads with fewer coworkers to help bear the brunt.
However, this is not the only issue students will face, as back-room staff linked to student services will also be cut.
Caitlin Jones, researcher for UoE’s informatics department, said: “If you’re asking fewer people to do more, then those students won’t have the quality of education that they expect from a world-class university”
This scheme, launched by the EUSA, appears to highlight the decline in educational quality and may result in fewer cuts as students voice their opinions.
EUSA did not comment.
Image by Spencer Siles Giavalisco