Universities have made cuts ‘equivalent to 15,000 jobs in last year’ – union

Universities have announced cuts equivalent to more than 15,000 jobs in the past year, analysis by a union suggests, as it is set to ballot members for strike action.

The University and College Union (UCU) said the scale of university job cuts has grown since March, when it had said 5,000 jobs had already been cut.

UCU is balloting members over its demands that employer body the Universities & College Employers Association (UCEA) commits to a national agreement to stop redundancies at all universities, protects existing national agreements, and makes a higher pay offer.

UCEA offered university staff a 1.4% rise for 2025/26.

In September, UCU said more than 65,000 members across 138 institutions would vote in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “These job losses are not minor, and government must stop treating them as localised incidents.

“Overpaid vice-chancellors are carrying out brutal cuts and have caused an existential moment for the UK higher education sector; our members do not want to strike, but they have been left with no choice but to ballot to defend it.

“University bosses must protect jobs, come forward with a fair pay offer and safeguard our hard-won national agreements. Staff cannot be made to pay the price for management failures.”

Universities across the UK are facing financial challenges. More than two in five forecast a deficit for 2024/25 in data released in May.

At Lancaster University, the institution is looking to cut 400 full-time jobs to save £30 million.

In addition, University of Nottingham staff voted to strike in August over more than 250 proposed cuts to jobs.

In Scotland, Dundee University is looking to cut up to 300 full-time jobs as it addresses a £35 million deficit, and the University of Edinburgh is looking to make £140 million of cuts as it tries to plug a £140 million black hole – which the UCU said it feared could see as many as 1,800 jobs lost.

Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said the university has to take decisive action now to prevent “far greater challenges in the future”.

“These issues are not unique to Edinburgh, as institutions across the country are facing similar pressures,” he said.

“We will continue to engage with our joint trade unions as plans develop, while remaining focused on the decisions needed to ensure the university’s long-term sustainability.”

The Department for Education is expected to publish a White Paper setting out plans for higher education reform later in the year.

However, when the Government announced at conference it would bring back maintenance grants, it said these would be funded by a new levy on international students, which had been proposed earlier in the year.

The international student levy has been unpopular with universities, and analysis by policy consultancy Public First warned it could lead to further job losses.

Ms Grady told the Today programme this morning the funding model for universities “has been dismantled, so institutions now generate income through recruiting students”, and this has led to universities pursuing an over-recruitment strategy for students.

This had led to a “complete over-reliance of income revenue from international students”, she added.

“There is no replacement for stable funding from government. The current marketised model, which is chasing students, is destroying higher education.”

Asked if universities therefore need the freedom to cut courses and staff if they have over-expanded, Ms Grady told Today “we have not seen substantial growth in staff at universities”.

“What we are seeing is institutions either contracting or expanding on an annual basis, based on whether or not they are over recruiting or under recruiting,” she added.

Raj Jethwa, UCEA chief executive, said the pay offer for staff for 2025-26 “clearly does not reflect the true value employers place on staff but, given the severity of the financial pressures they face, this pay offer was the only prudent option open to employers, to try to protect students and staff.”

Mr Jethwa added the UCU’s strike ballot is “perplexing as the 1.4% uplift is a struggle for institutions with a number not affording it in full at all.

“It is much better for employers and unions to work together to highlight the value of higher education to the UK economy. But that can’t and won’t happen if UCU pursues industrial action causing disruption and suffering for students,” he said.

A DfE spokesperson said: “While universities are independent institutions, this Government took the tough but necessary decision to increase tuition fees in line with inflation to put universities on a secure financial footing.

“We are using money raised through the international students levy to break down barriers to opportunity, introducing targeted maintenance grants for disadvantaged students.”