Swansea University warns that more staff could leave, as it increases savings by £30m

Swansea University has increased its savings by £30m, warning that more staff could leave.

The university has lost 342 staff in the last year and a half, since opening a voluntary exit scheme for academics in September 2023 and recently announced in their newly published review an increase of £30m in its three-year financial sustainability programme, which was introduced in summer 2023, as concerns rise that even more staff could leave.

The voluntary exit scheme is no longer available to academics, but still applies to professional services staff and savings for the university are being made by not filling vacant posts. The UCU has said that it has helped to negotiate no compulsory academic redundancies as part of the ongoing cost-cutting.

Speaking with WalesOnline, a UCU spokeswoman said: “Campus trade unions have worked closely with the university to avoid compulsory redundancies and this announcement shows the impact and importance of good industrial relations. The UCU remains concerned about the loss of roles in professional services and opposed to any compulsory redundancies.”

Universities across Wales are currently facing what the Times Higher Education is calling an “existential crisis” of around £70 million in deficit, even with the increase in tuition fees.

Swansea Uni’s announcement follows recent news of Cardiff University’s proposed job and course cuts in attempt to tackle the current projected financial issues.

A spokesperson for the university told The Cardiff Tab: “We introduced our Financial Sustainability Programme in the summer of 2023. This is a multi-year plan with a range of targets related to making savings and generating income, to help us navigate an extremely challenging financial context. We have been proactive in identifying these challenges and putting in place measures to support them. ”

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Speaking with WalesOnline, they added that: “There are ongoing financial challenges facing our university and the wider sector and we continue to look for both pay and non-pay savings. To date, we have managed to avoid compulsory redundancies and whilst we cannot rule them out entirely, they will remain a measure of last resort.”

The savings programme includes an assessment of the university’s building estate, which has led to some projects being delayed, such as the redevelopment of Fulton House, Singleton Campus. However, other projects have gone ahead such as the £1.7m upgrade of Cove, the university’s nightclub and a £2.2m investment in Swansea Bay Sports Park.

Swansea has said that there are no plans to remove programmes but that they are reviewing the curriculum.

The 2024 review showed that the university is currently facing a £15m deficit, as income falls to £382m compared to £412m in 2023. It also revealed that the average annual salary for staff has increased by £3,000 to £45,000 and that the Vice Chancellor, Professor Paul Boyle’s basic salary has increased from £323,000 to £335,000.

In the introduction of the review, Professor Boyle praised the resilience and dedication of staff and said that results from a recent yearly student survey showed improvements with the university being ranked the highest it’s ever been for research impact. Swansea was also named The Times and The Sunday Times University of the Year 2025.

The university also said that undergraduate tuition fees do not cover the full cost of teaching and that “effective international student visa policies” are crucial in attracting and retaining these students.

On this issue, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “In addition to grant funding, we have increased the tuition fee limit, providing up to £21.9 million in additional income to universities next year.”

However, despite the projected deficit of the university it was also included in the introduction that there are plans to open new offices in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a campus in London.

A spokesperson for Swansea University said: “As we communicated to our staff community and our Campus Unions at the time, in the summer of 2024, we increased our FSP targets by £30m, following a challenging student recruitment cycle (particularly in respect of international student recruitment).   

“Even taking those additional savings into account, and as we communicated to our staff and Campus Unions in February, we are confident that we will meet our academic pay savings targets this year through vacancy management and our Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES) and can avoid compulsory redundancies relating to our financial position. We are also confident that, through a programme of redesigning our Professional Services, we will meet our pay savings target in this area once this programme is completed.”

They finished by saying: “We will continue to monitor the financial impact of volatile student recruitment and continued cost increases and adjust these targets, as necessary, to ensure our future sustainability.”

Feature image credit: Google Maps