Staff left ‘demoralised’ as Northumbria University to cut two courses from September

Staff at Northumbria University have been left feeling “demoralised” after the uni announced the decision to cut two joint degrees from September.

Courses in business with Spanish and business with French will be discontinued due to low enrolment rates.

A UCU official has since branded the decision as “backtracking” and has questioned the reliability of management statements, BBC reports.

Jon Bryan, University and College Union (UCU) official, commented that the decision backtracks on “commitments” made by the university’s head about “no planned programme closures”, further noting the course-cuts raises serious concerns on whether they could rely on “statements made by management”.

Mr Bryan said the union is “concerned about what may come down the road”.

Only 18 students enrolled in the two courses in September and will be the last cohort to study those degrees at the university, according to the UCU.

The university has clarified students will still be able to study foreign languages as part of their degrees in its wider programme, and the decision to stop providing two “very small undergraduate programmes” was not connected to wider academic plans.

A spokesperson for Northumbria University said: “It is vital that we continually review our programmes…in order that we are able to deliver for our students”.

Despite the course-cuts, there have been no jobs lost as a consequence.