⁠Cardiff Uni’s proposed cuts ‘risk collapse of maths infrastructure in Wales’, experts say

Cardiff University’s proposed cuts “risk [the] collapse of maths infrastructure in Wales”, according to world mathematicians.

The President of the European Mathematical Society has warned the university that its credibility is at risk due to their extensive cuts.

This follows Cardiff’s announcement of plans to cut 400 jobs and multiple courses as it faces a projected £65 million financial shortfall.

The university plans to reduce this deficit to £31 million using its reserves.

WalesOnline released a statement by the The Campaign for Mathematical Sciences (CaMS) which stated: “Cardiff University is planning a swingeing programme of redundancies across the university. Up to 15 lecturers at the prestigious School of Mathematics are set to be made redundant.

“The proposed plans would see a significant reduction of students being able to study mathematics and would represent an unprecedented cut to maths provision at a Russell Group university. ”

The CaMS claim the planned School of Mathematics job cuts are fuelled by the university’s desire to accept less mathematics students through clearing, despite the school producing a “significant budget surplus”.

The campaign goes on to list extensive negative impacts of the cuts: Revealing the decline of university maths programmes in Wales could damage economic growth by limiting the number of skilled professionals in key sectors like AI, quantum technology, and renewable energy.

CaMS warn this could create a “maths desert,” restricting access to higher-level maths education, especially for students who are “less able to travel to universities beyond Wales, such as those from poorer backgrounds, students with disabilities or those with caring responsibilities”.

Additionally, fewer maths graduates may lead to a shortage of teachers, particularly in Welsh-language schools, where Cardiff University’s programme plays a crucial role in training future educators.

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A document revealing the university’s proposed plans for cuts highlighted that it planned to accept fewer domestic students through clearing by raising its grade boundaries.

The chair of CaMS, Professor Jens Marklof, has claimed the university’s plans to improve its plummeted ranking in the global league table will “spectacularly backfire”, suggesting that raising the grade boundaries is not the solution.

He stated: “Maths skills are going to be essential as we move through the 21st century.

“AI runs on maths – mathematical sciences are absolutely crucial to fuelling economic growth or solving societal challenges such as climate change or pandemic modelling.”

Professer Marklof added: “If the senior team of Cardiff University presses on with these changes it will be holding Wales back in the race for economic and social success. It’s not just about cutting jobs – it’s also about cutting the opportunities available for young people in Wales.”

The Welsh Government has also emphasised that its goal for economic and environmental growth will remain out of reach without developing a strong workforce of mathematical scientists and higher-level maths skills.

There has been extensive backfire from Cardiff UCU and students against the proposed cuts. Protesters gathered outside the unis CSL building last Wednesday following their vote of no confidence in the vice-chancellor, Professor Wendy Larner.

A spokesperson for Cardiff University told The Cardiff Tab: “As you are aware we have published a series of proposals. They include proposed changes to our School of Mathematics. The proposals have been shared with all staff and those staff potentially impacted. They are now subject to a 90-day consultation.

“Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the proposal is to create a new School of Data Science, Mathematics and Computing. It would absorb the existing provision of the Schools of Computer Science & Informatics (COMSC) and Mathematics (MATHS).

“The School would comprise of three departments: (i) Mathematics and (ii) Computer Science, which will be formed from the existing Schools of Mathematics and Computer Science & Informatics respectively. These will sit alongside a third, new department of (iii) Data Science & Artificial Intelligence.

“The proposals anticipate that internally funded academic staff numbers in Mathematics would decrease by c10-15FTE (49 to 36 FTE) over the period 2025/26 – 2027/28, aligned with a small reduction in total student numbers (including undergraduate and postgraduate – teaching and research) from 769 – 686.

“It is proposed that any reductions in staffing would be achieved in the following ways: staff leaving through the recent voluntary severance scheme, through natural attrition/turnover, by implementing a recruitment freeze until targets are achieved, inviting staff to consider new roles/deployment opportunities, inviting staff to consider voluntary redundancy, implementing compulsory redundancies only if absolutely necessary.

“In the short term, there will be no immediate impact on current maths students nor their ability to complete their studies. We will also accept students onto the maths programmes in 2025.”

A log of the university’s statements on the proposals can be found here.

​Consultations on the cuts are expected to run over the next few months, with the final decision expected to be made by the university council in June.

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