Cardiff University job cuts

Cardiff University announces plans to cut 400 jobs

The university has revealed its plans to axe seven per cent of its workforce


Cardiff University has confirmed that it plans to cut 400 full time jobs.

This news comes as a result of the university’s funding shortfall, as it faces a £30 million “black hole in its budget”.

The jobs are also believed to be academic, however, the cutting of some non-academic positions has not been ruled out.

The Cardiff University and College Union (Cardiff UCU) has called the cuts “cruel” and said it plans to fight the compulsory redundancies.

Cardiff University provided an offer of voluntary severance between June and September last year. It was taken up by 155 staff members out of the 7,000 who work for the university.

Cardiff’s vice-chancellor, Professor Wendy Larner had announced last Autumn that the university would find new sources of income and develop new ways of delivering its courses.

Despite these claims, Cardiff University still faces this financial shortfall, and has said that it has suffered significantly due to the decline in international student applications.

The decline follows restrictions on overseas students being able to secure visas in the UK.

Cardiff University’s Main Building

According to the BBC, Professor Larner also stressed how the university needs “to adapt to survive” under the increased cost pressures.

The vice-chancellor has said that the cuts will lead to “a slightly smaller university” referring to the severance of seven per cent of Cardiff University’s workforce.

She also added: “It is no longer an option for us to continue as we are,” saying the university had to make “difficult decisions” because of “declining international student applications and increasing cost pressures, and the need to adapt to survive”.

She further explained that she understands the “proposals impact some staff more than others and they will cause a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety for those potentially impacted”.

The cuts will also have significant impact on students’ studies as the plans include axing courses, including nursing, and modern languages.

Financial deficits are being faced across Welsh universities, with the University of South Wales predicting a £20 million gap in revenue this financial year.

Briefings on Cardiff’s plan for the cuts were held on Tuesday, and will continue throughout the week. The consultation will run for three months, with approval expected to be considered in June by the University Council.

Professor Larner’s full statement is as follows: “The precarious financial position of many universities, particularly in the context of declining international student applications and increasing cost pressures, and the need to adapt to survive are well documented.

“We know here at Cardiff University that it is no longer an option for us to continue as we are. Our new strategy, co-created with our community, lays out an ambitious future for our University where it is collaborative, innovative, and delivering value for Cardiff, Wales and the wider world.

“Securing that future, in the context of tightening finances, means we need to take difficult decisions to realise our ambitions to enhance our education and research, and improve the staff and student experience.

“We have worked diligently to create initial proposals for a slightly smaller University, refocused around our core and emerging strengths – a University ready to leverage new academic opportunities, prepare students for an adapting world and meet changing market demands as they arise.

“At the same time as putting forward these proposals to reshape our current activities, we will be working on a new model for flexible lifelong learning, new opportunities in transnational education, and new approaches to learning and teaching.

“Our proposals aim to create a more focused, higher quality research environment for staff and students that is world-leading with cynefin, place and co-creation at its heart.

“We also want to ensure a consistently excellent education experience for students of all backgrounds and experiences. I want to stress that these are proposals and our final plans will be shaped by our community – both internal and external – through formal consultation.

“The scale of the challenge will remain, but the way that we address it will certainly be refined and developed over the next 90 days.

“I know that these proposals impact some staff more than others and they will cause a great deal of uncertainly and anxiety for those potentially impacted.

“We have done everything that we can to avoid reaching this position, but ultimately we know that annual rounds of cuts demoralise our staff, affect our students, and limit our ability to retain and grow new partnerships with our community here in the UK and elsewhere. We need to act now to ensure that we are able to deliver on the aspirations of our new strategy and have a viable university for the future.

“These academically-led proposals aim to reverse our deficit trend and create headroom for new revenue-generating activities to be established.”

A related process to reshape the professional and support services to support our academic aspirations has already begun.

Staff briefings were held on Tuesday 28th January and will continue throughout the week. The business cases for each School will be made available through the University’s staff intranet. Current students and other key external stakeholders will be updated on the proposals.

The consultation will run for three months and final plans for approval are expected to be considered by University Council in June 2025.”