Multiple courses to close as University of Huddersfield announces 200 job losses

In an announcement to university staff last week, vice-chancellor Professor Bob Cryan said there were plans to make 198 compulsory redundancies. It is the latest round of job losses at the university, following an offer to 100 staff to take voluntary redundancy last summer, as well as 35 job losses in the university’s School of Human and Health Sciences at the beginning of 2023.

The move has been highly criticised by trade unions. Dr Gary Allen, senior lecturer in Software Engineering at the university and branch chair of the University and College Union told The Yorkshire Post the cuts were “on an unprecedented scale and will cause massive damage to the university.

“This university is in a relatively strong financial position,” he said. A financial statement issued by the university showed it held £85m in cash or cash equivalents in July last year.

“As well as destroying the lives and livelihoods of around 200 of our colleagues, it will have an inevitable negative impact on the student experience and result in increased workloads for those staff who remain.”

Dr Allen says capital spending should be halted while a solution is found. “Tens of millions of pounds are being spent on new buildings while existing buildings stand empty across campus,” he said. “The university should halt this process and seek to find alternative ways to reduce costs.”

At least ten courses currently provided by the university would be cut, including undergraduate degrees in mathematics and sociology. The 200 redundancies represent 12 per cent of the university’s workforce, and cover both teaching and administrative staff.

Writing in The Yorkshire Post earlier this month, University of York vice-chancellor Professor Charlie Jeffery described the “acute cost pressures” faced by universities.

Universities’ main source of funding is tuition fees, which were capped in 2017 at £9,250 per year. Overseas students, for whom tuition is not capped, pay on average £17,000 a year on fees.

Prof Jeffery is critical of government policies which have reduced the numbers of international students in the UK. “The government’s failure to get to grips with illegal immigration leads it to turn attention to things it can control, like student visas,” he wrote.

“All this creates a moment of peril for the sector. Some universities have been hit hard already and more will follow.”

A spokesperson for the University of Huddersfield said: “Since 2012, UK undergraduate tuition fees have increased by only 2.8%, from £9,000 to £9,250, despite inflation surging by over 50%. This has precipitated a financial crisis in the university sector, affecting many institutions including ours.

"We are now among the 40% of universities facing budget deficits in 2023/4, further exacerbated by a 44% sector-wide decline in international student enrolments in January 2024 due to changes in government immigration policy. Rising staff costs, particularly in pension contributions, further strain our budget.

"We previously initiated restructuring and voluntary schemes to navigate ongoing sector-wide financial pressures but, like many universities, must now implement a transformational change program. This includes reducing our workforce by 12% to ensure financial sustainability and prepare for a challenging future where tuition fees and immigration policy are unlikely to change.”