Nottingham University urged to reconsider proposed course suspensions

Nottinghamshire MPs have urged the University of Nottingham to reconsider the suspension of degree courses in areas including modern languages and music.

Around 100 students and members of staff gathered at the university campus on Monday afternoon to protest against future potential closures of dozens of degree courses that also include nursing.

The university’s council met on Tuesday and approved plans which would open up engagement with staff, students and unions about the proposed closures – though no final decision will be made until the end of the academic year.

Students currently on the courses have been told they will be supported to continue, but the courses facing closure have been suspended for entry for 2026/27.

A spokesperson for the University of Nottingham said: “Council met today and approved the university’s plans to continue engaging with staff, students, trade unions and relevant stakeholders on proposals to reshape the university.

“Final decisions on the plans, including course closures, will not be made until the end of academic year 25/26. Over the coming months we are committed to working with our university community to gather feedback, hear concerns and consider counter proposals.”

Seven MPs across the county have written to the university to support calls from the University and College Union (UCU) to immediately pause all degree suspensions.

The MPs, which include Nadia Whittome, Juliet Campbell, Lillian Greenwood, James Naish, Alex Norris, Michael Payne, and Michelle Welsh, said the UCU had raised concerns that there had been a lack of transparency and proper consultation through the process.

The UCU also raised concerns about the methodology used to decide which courses are suspended, the MPs said.

“The Government has been very clear it expects universities to manage their own finances and focus on areas of strength. We are responding to this to ensure the University of Nottingham remains a world-leading institution long into the future,” the university spokesperson added.

Petitions to stop the course closures for modern languages and music have been signed by more than 19,000 and more than 15,000 people respectively.

Charlie Blair, a second year student studying German and Russian at Nottingham who started the languages petition with a friend, told the PA news agency the potential of closure is “really disappointing”.

Ms Blair, who is in the middle of planning her year abroad as part of her course, told PA students in her year have no idea what they will be coming back to in Nottingham when they return.

“A lot of people are worried that in the future, employers will look and see University of Nottingham as your degree and think that that’s going to make it seem less valuable,” she added.

Melanie Bhend, assistant professor in French at the University, told PA: “I’m a bit in limbo, and have no idea what I will be doing come next September. It’s not easy to keep working in these conditions.”

Paul Smith, head of department of modern languages and cultures, said there are around 75 staff members in the department who are “very nervous about their futures”.

“There’s a great deal of a sense of insecurity,” he told PA.

“The students are actually in bits because they feel terribly devalued by this,” he added.

The university spokesperson previously said: “The majority of our courses in Modern Languages have very low student numbers, and these numbers continue to fall year on year. This year, all but four of our modern languages courses have less than 10 students on them.

“As a global university, we absolutely recognise the importance of language learning for personal development, cultural understanding, and employability. However, students are increasingly telling us that the way they want to learn languages is changing.

“Our modern languages degree courses are unsustainable but we currently have almost 2,000 students across all of our disciplines studying languages as part of their degree through our Language Centre and we are planning to build this so all students have access to learning a language but in a way that better suits them.”