Universities fear 'cuts meltdown'

Leeds University vice chancellor Prof Michael Arthur fears slashing university budgets by up to 2.5bn will have a devastating effect and has joined forces with the director general of the group representing the country's elite universities to issue a plea to politicians to rethink. So far cuts approaching 1bn to the higher education sector have been identified by ministers looking to bring down Britain's massive deficit.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies warns that savings of 12.3 per cent in 2011 and 2012 are needed to achieve the Government's target of halving the national debt by 2013.

Prof Arthur and Russell Group director Wendy Piatt fear that would mean another 1.6bn of cuts to higher education, bringing the total to about 2.5bn – a third of the sector's current annual spend.

They said: "We live in a world where ideas, innovation and entrepreneurialism are key to prosperity and well-being. As bastions of knowledge and creativity, our universities are critical to supporting this agenda."