There are 88 universities undergoing redundancies, restructuring schemes or department closures. According to a news article from The i Paper.
The deepening university cash crisis has led to over half of UK institutions now running redundancy or restructuring schemes, putting thousands of higher education jobs at risk.
As a result, modern languages are in danger of “dying out”, with subjects such as French, German and Spanish becoming “much rarer” at universities outside of the Russell Group, said Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).
This risks a widening gap in standards between Russell Group and non-Russell Group universities, education experts told The i Paper.
There are 88 universities undergoing redundancies, restructuring schemes or department closures, according to a list compiled by the University and College Union (UCU) branch at St Mary University of London. This is more than half of the UK’s 166 universities, the UCU said.
Hillman warned that there is a risk of voluntary redundancy schemes becoming compulsory, adding that he “wouldn’t be surprised” to see academics and support staff losing their jobs before summer 2025.
“More than half of UK universities have already announced redundancy schemes,” he said. “You try voluntary, which is better for all but also risky. People may not apply for it or good people may apply in the knowledge they can get another job, leaving you with the less productive staff.”
Hillman added: “If you don’t get the demand for voluntary redundancy that you need, then you do rapidly start looking at compulsory redundancies instead but people won’t want to do that in most instances just yet.
“The key thing is to try and get some of the savings from any redundancies in the current financial year or, if this can’t be achieved, to get all the pain over in the current financial year so that 2025/26 looks better than 2024/25.”
This comes as four universities recently announced plans to cut over 750 jobs, becoming the latest to join a wave of redundancies involving the sector.
At the same time, rent prices in some University towns and cities in England are now more expensive than the maximum student loan available, laying bare the spiralling costs of higher education for students at British universities.
Universities are in the grip of a cash crisis, with 72 per cent forecast to be in deficit this year, according to Office for National Statistics modelling.
This has been blamed on tuition fees being frozen at a maximum of £9,250 since 2017 and a downturn in international student applications because of tighter visa restrictions.
The Government has announced that fees will rise this year to £9,535. Further rises could follow in later years, but that has yet to be decided.
Last week, Cardiff University announced plans to cut 400 full-time jobs, with Vice-Chancellor Professor Wendy Larner saying it was “no longer an option for us to continue as we are”.
The university has opened a 90-day consultation on the cost-cutting measures, which include course closures and department mergers. The affected departments include nursing, modern languages, music, ancient history, translation and religion and theology.
The proposed reduction of seven per cent of Cardiff’s workforce will be via compulsory redundancies “only if absolutely necessary”, the university said.
Durham University has also announced plans to reduce staff costs by a total of £20m with its voluntary severance scheme expected to affect around 200 professional service staff roles before September.
“If these savings cannot be secured through voluntary means, compulsory measures cannot be ruled out,” the university said.
The University of East Anglia (UEA) said on Monday that it needs £11m to “stay on track” with its financial sustainability plan, which will mean cutting 163 jobs.
“Staff have been informed that the proposals include a goal for reduction of 163 full-time equivalent roles across the university which we hope will be achieved through a voluntary redundancy programme targeted at a minority of selected areas across the university,” a spokesperson said.
“Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort,” they added.
Hillman said that modern languages are at a “very high risk” of being cut due to the low pupil numbers taking subjects like French, German and Spanish in schools, which filters through to university options.
“The single biggest problem facing our country is the catastrophic decline in language learning, both in schools and now at universities,” he said, adding that prestigious universities such as Oxford and Cambridge will continue to offer languages, but they are “dying out” beyond the Russell Group members.
“Learning a modern language becomes a little bit like learning Latin and Greek,” Hillman said. “It becomes something that ancient universities tend to do and other universities withdraw from.”
UCU’s general secretary Jo Grady said: “The unprecedented level of cuts we are seeing across the sector threatens not only the reputation of individual institutions but UK higher education’s standing on the world stage. You simply cannot slash thousands of jobs and expect to offer anything close to the expected standards of research and teaching.
“Our members refuse to stand by and allow university managers to commit academic vandalism on such a grand scale, and where universities refuse to step back from the brink and work with us to maintain provision, we are willing to ballot for strike action. Unfortunately, serious industrial unrest cannot be ruled out.
“The Labour government must do all it can to make institutions think again or it will be accused of standing on the sidelines while UK higher education crumbles.”
Vivienne Stern, CEO of Universities UK, said: “Universities have been doing more with less for years. While the recent uplift in home student fees in England and Wales was welcome, it is not enough to counteract over a decade of stagnation coupled with the costs of record inflation.
“The sector desperately needs a funding rethink, starting with a guarantee from government that the recent rise will continue to be matched to inflation, not just a one-off increase. Our universities are drivers of growth locally and nationally, and they need long-term and sustainable funding to ensure this now and in the future.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We’ve been upfront about the tough financial situation we’ve inherited in relation to HE providers in England, and we are determined to put our universities on a secure footing after years of financial challenges.
“That’s why we’re focused on working with the HE sector in England to boost its long-term financial stability, and as you’ve seen with the decision to increase tuition fee caps, we have already taken tough but necessary choices to bolster financial sustainability and provide certainty.”
