Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

Universities have collectively announced more than 12,000 job cuts in the last year, new analysis from the University and College Union (UCU) suggests.

Additional cost savings announced in the same period are equivalent to a further 3,000 jobs, the union says, but universities have not confirmed whether these savings will be made by cutting staff.

UCU members will vote on potential UK-wide strike action later this month over a 1.4% pay offer made over the summer.

Employers say that offer “clearly does not reflect the true value employers place on staff”, but that it is the “only prudent option” given the scale of the financial challenge facing the higher education sector.

Four in 10 English universities are now believed to be in financial deficit, according to the Office for Students.

Raj Jethwa, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), says difficult decisions like redundancies and restructures are having to be “carefully considered” by all institutions, but that they were striving to do so in an “open and fair way”.

But Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, described the cuts as “brutal”, adding that staff had become “demoralised, exhausted and furious” and that “undervalued and poorly served” students were feeling the impact too.

She told the Today programme there was “no replacement for stable funding from government” to address the financial challenges and that the current model was “destroying higher education”.

The government said it had taken the “tough but necessary decision” to increase tuition fees last year to boost income for universities, and would soon set out further plans for reforms in new legislation.

Dr Zak Hughes, a chemistry lecturer at the University of Bradford, is at risk of redundancy.

“There are a lot of stressed and upset people who are struggling to deal with it, both within the school but also more widely within the institution,” he says.

Zak, who has worked at the university since 2018, says he now faces the prospect of having to move back home to live with his mum if he loses his job.

“I won’t be able to pay my rent, I will be in my forties and living back at home,” he says.

Even if the 44-year-old retains his job, the chemistry course at the university is being phased out, with similar closures happening across the country.

Zak says this limits the opportunities for him and his colleagues.

“People could, even if they lost their job, get a job at another institution. That’s not happening now,” he says.

“They’re probably looking not only at the end of the a job, but really the end of their career in academia.”

Sanskrity Baraili, sabbatical officer at the students’ union in Bradford, says she has already seen the impact of cuts on students, especially in support services such as cleaning teams and disability services.

While she believes the cuts come from a wider issue within higher education, she says “students are worried about what’s going to happen next”.

A spokesperson for the university said: “Like many other universities, we are having to make cost-savings to protect the student experience and ensure we deliver meaningful outcomes for graduates.”

They said they had expanded the support services available to students, adding that “our priority remains putting students first and widening access to higher education.”

They said the university had a responsibility to ensure it remained financially stable, including regularly reviewing courses with “persistently low intake such as chemistry”.

They called on the government to take “swift and decisive action” to tackle the challenges faced by the sector.

The University of Edinburgh has announced it plans to make £140m in cuts, equivalent to about 1,800 jobs, according to the UCU.

Caspar Cubitt, who is studying theology, says the uncertainty has “put all of us on edge”.

“There’s a lot of gossip which swirls around you,” he says.

“It’s when you write back to your mum and dad and they ask how uni is going, you say, ‘Well, my degree is in trouble.'”

While the 22-year-old says he is still receiving the same level of support from his department, he has found that access to study spaces and module choices has been affected.

With two years left at university, he is now worried what further cuts may mean.

“I would have had second thoughts [about going to Edinburgh] if I knew that this is how they handle budget crisis and this is how they run finances,” he says.

Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, principal and vice chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said the university had been “fully transparent about the necessary steps we need to take to safeguard the future of our university”.

“We remain firmly committed to ongoing dialogue as we take the necessary steps to enable us to deliver excellence and continue to be a bold, imaginative and world-leading university.”