373 staff at the University of Edinburgh have been revealed to have accepted ‘voluntary severance’ (VS) between 1 August 2024 and 4 November 2025.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by The Herald revealed these departures, 345 of which resulted from the university’s targeted voluntary severance scheme run in 2025.
Voluntary severance payments entail “any payment in connection with a mutually agreed and voluntary early departure from employment.”
The university’s VS scheme is another cost-saving measure which came alongside a letter from principal and vice-chancellor Peter Mathieson confirming the freezing of academic promotions between 2025-26.
The scheme is said to have delivered savings of £18m.
University and College Union Edinburgh (UCUE) members have criticised the cost of the scheme itself, with the FOI request revealing spending of £10.2 million.
In October, the UCUE raised concerns around “large-scale compulsory redundancies,” due to the limited income generated from the VS scheme.
In November, the UCUE and Peter Mathieson reached a resolution on this dispute, confirming that there will be no compulsory redundancies before July 2026, whilst strike action has been suspended until April 2026.
Sophia Woodman, branch president of UCUE and senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Edinburgh, has pointed to ongoing concern surrounding “hidden redundancies.” This is where the university has reduced budgets for guaranteed contact hours and declined to renew fixed-term contracts.
Woodman discussed the effects of these measures on PhD students and recent graduates who tutor at the university:
“There are almost no scholarships in humanities and social services, so PhD students depend on that income from teaching.”
The Student talked to a second-year English literature student who said:
“I feel like a lot of us are worried about losing PhD students, especially because they tutor most first and second year courses, and I usually go to my tutor first when I have any problems.”
Concerns from students and staff continue as the university continues to take action to reduce costs by £140m, with Mathieson promoting a “radical re-wiring” of how the institution operates.
Image by Kian Sullivan for The Student