These 10 UK unis are axing the most lecturers in 2025 – and loads are Russell Group

The UK higher education sector is having a mare right now. Fewer international students are coming to the UK, so universities have a lot less income. Loads of unis across the UK are resorting to sacking cutting jobs throughout 2025 and 2026 – including the prestigious Russell Group unis. Here are the 10 UK unis that are getting rid of the most jobs in 2025.

10. University of Nottingham – 258 jobs

On 8th April, the vice-chancellor announced plans to cut the full-time equivalent of 258 professional service roles. Because lots of staff have part-time contracts, more than 258 people might lose their jobs. The vice-chancellor hasn’t ruled out compulsory redundancies in 2025 or 2026 if not enough staff sign up to the voluntary severance scheme.

9. Queen’s University Belfast – 270 jobs

The uni opened a voluntary severance scheme in February. The union estimated around 270 people would leave. Some staff are not impressed that the uni is cutting jobs in Northern Ireland, while also putting money towards a new campus in India.

UCU’s general secretary Jo Grady said: “It is scandalous that QUB is putting massive amounts of money into a new campus halfway round the world all the while axing jobs in Belfast.”

8. University of Dundee – 300 jobs

This university initially planned to dispose of a huge 700 jobs – about a fifth of the workforce. Funnily enough, this was not a popular decision. On 29th April, Dundee scaled back these plans. Instead, the uni will get rid of around 300 staff through a voluntary severance scheme.

7. Newcastle University – about 300 jobs

(Credit: @newcastleuniucu )

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257 staff members agreed to leave through the voluntary severance scheme. On 9th May, the university announced it would still have to cull 38 jobs. The union has planned discontinuous strikes until 17th July.

6. University of Sussex – 300 jobs

At the end of 2024, the uni announced plans to axe about 300 jobs through a voluntary severance scheme. The vice-chancellor said this was because of “the long-term underfunding of higher education, ongoing inflationary pressures, and the sharp drop in international students this year, as a result of the previous government’s policies.”

5. University of Greenwich – 319 jobs

This London uni announced lots of job cuts on 15th May. The uni is attempting to get rid of a quarter of its employees. All the hourly paid workers in Greenwich’s business school and the faculty of liberal arts and sciences will lose their jobs. Roles are also being slashed in the engineering and science department.

4. University of Edinburgh – 350 jobs

The vice-chancellor Peter Mathieson emailed staff in February that the uni needed to save £140 million this year. Yikes. 350 staff will leave their jobs through a voluntary severance scheme. This will save about £18 million – a long way off the target. The uni hasn’t ruled out further job losses this year, according to Times Higher Education.

3. University of Birmingham – 300-400 jobs

At the end of 2024, Brum opened a Voluntary Leaver Scheme. According to the union, senior management are hoping between 300 and 400 staff will chose to leave.

=1. University of Lancaster – 400 jobs

According to the UCU, on 2nd December 2024 all the staff at Lancs received an email saying: “For the University to be sustainable at the level of student recruitment we saw in 2024, current estimates show that we need to reduce the staff size by about 10-15% of where we are now – which translates to an approximate reduction of 400 full-time equivalent staff (i.e. staff across all categories) over the next two years, given our adjusted financial forecasts.

=1. University of Sheffield – 400 jobs

The uni announced in 2025 that they aim to make £23 million of staff cuts over the next two years. The union reckons this will amount to around 400 jobs. Staff at Sheffield went on strike in May, and are still doing Action Short of Strike. This means lecturers are protesting by “keeping to contracted hours” and “prioritising a workload balance”.

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Featured image of the University of Sheffield by Brit in Seoul. Featured image of the University of Edinburgh by Magnus Hagdorn.