UK universities have embarked on a fresh round of cost-cutting, targeting departments and projects previously seen as off limits, as the impact of the decline in international student numbers becomes clearer.

The universities of Sheffield and York ¨C both Russell Group institutions ¨C were among the latest to announce the need to make more savings, with the University and College Union (UCU) branch at the latter fearing some of the researchers ¡°key to the university¡¯s future¡± were among those impacted.

Efforts to save a further ?2.4 million after more than 270 staff left York as part of a voluntary severance scheme may involve compulsory redundancies, which UCU has said were unnecessary due to better-than-expected student recruitment.

Other universities also reported that international student numbers have held up despite fears of a major crash.

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But elsewhere, year-on-year declines in recruitment were forcing universities¡¯ hands. Sheffield said that although it had grown its domestic student numbers, it had 2,200 fewer international students this year, a 7 per cent reduction, which had contributed to a ?50 million shortfall in its accounts.

¡°We have spoken to staff at the university about some of the measures that we are taking to manage this reduction, which include reviewing infrastructure projects and carefully managing staff vacancies,¡± a spokesperson said.

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The University of East Anglia blamed a reduction in international postgraduates for having to make ?11 million worth of savings, with compulsory redundancies not being ruled out, just a year after 100 jobs were cut.

Vice-chancellor David Maguire said in a message to staff that ¡°any reductions will be made in a targeted way, driven by data, to protect as much of our community as possible¡± and that ¡°we have already worked to make savings in areas where no significant impact will be felt on our university¡±.

While the scale of the cuts made in 2023-24 were substantial, with at least one in three campuses affected, leaders fear the next round will be harder still, with institutions forced to lose prized assets ¨C provoking ever greater staff and student discontent.

Campus resources on research management

At the University of Hull, where a flagship solar farm plan has been shelved and 127 jobs put at risk, UCU members have been balloted for strike action.

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York UCU was also considering strike action ¡°if management does not start engaging in good faith and in a meaningful way¡±, said co-president Steven Spencer.

He said that the university could be ¡°less aggressive¡± in its plans to return to surplus and that allowances had not been made for the increased income from this year¡¯s recruitment round.

Among the staff at risk of redundancy were those in health sciences and linguistics, which Dr Spencer said were world-leading groups whose loss will have ¡°large-scale societal implications¡±.

¡°The fear is that the university is downgrading itself and the workloads for those left will be immense. There is anger here that I haven¡¯t seen before.¡±

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A York spokesperson said it had ¡°moved quickly¡± to address difficulties ¡°precisely so we can protect the future of our research and teaching strengths at York¡±.

The vast majority of savings had been made through voluntary means and the planned redundancy scheme had already been reduced from 30 to 20 full-time equivalent posts and may still be lowered further, they added.

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tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com