The UK unis where students will lose the most lecturers and support staff

Er, UK universities are not in a great place right now. A combination of higher running costs, fewer international students and little change to tuition fees means that many UK unis are pretty broke right now. Management at loads of unis have proposed they will get rid of more than 100 staff members. Here are the UK unis where the most job cuts are planned. You could use this as an indication of how screwed your unis is (and how hard it might become to nab a good seat in lectures).

The University and College Union (UCU) have compiled a list of how many jobs different UK unis have announced they plan to cut September 2024. It’s pretty alarming.

The University of Edinburgh is easily the worst offender on the list. The union reckons proposed cuts could result in 1,800 job losses. The Vice-Chancellor Sir Peter Mathieson has said: “The higher education sector across the UK is facing serious and urgent financial challenges, placing its long-term stability under threat. We have been transparent about the impact of these pressures on Edinburgh and the steps we are taking to proactively maintain our position as a world-leading University.”

At least the city is pretty?

Remember, job cuts can take many forms. Most UK unis start by shedding staff through voluntary redundancy schemes. Many are trying to reduce their overall staff numbers by not filling posts when people leave. And several unis (such as Cardiff, and Dundee) actually scaled back the planned job cuts after extensive backlash. Erm, so things could be worse? Job cuts usually affect both academic staff and support staff.

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Several other unis have proposed huge cuts, including the University of Aberdeen, Coventry University, University of Cumbria, the University of Kent, the University of Leicester and the University of Sheffield. However, the UCU didn’t have very specific numbers about how many job losses the cuts would lead to. That’s why those unis aren’t included in the ranking below.

So, here are the UK unis that have proposed the most staff cuts since September 2024:

33. University of Portsmouth – 117 jobs

32. Bournemouth University – 119 jobs

31. University of Sunderland – 120 jobs

30. Queen Mary University of London – 126 jobs

29. Sheffield Hallam University – 150 jobs

28. University of South Wales – 166 jobs

27. Robert Gordon University – 188 jobs

26. University of Huddersfield – 198 jobs

=22. Aberystwyth University – 200 jobs

=22. University of Bradford – 200 jobs

=22. Durham University – 200 jobs

Erm, at least Durham has a castle?

=22. University of Essex – 200 jobs

21. Middlesex University – 2o5 jobs

20. University of East Anglia – 211 jobs

19. Cardiff University – 220 jobs

18. Bangor University – 228 jobs

17. University of Hull – 236 jobs

=15. University of Exeter – 270 jobs

=15. Queen’s University Belfast – 270 jobs

14. University of Lincoln – 285 jobs

=11. University of Dundee – 300 jobs

=11. Newcastle University – 300 jobs

Newcastle Uni looking nice

=11. University of Sussex – 300 jobs

10. University of Plymouth – 324 jobs

9. Brunel University – 330 jobs

8. University of Greenwich – 340 jobs

7. Swansea University – 342 jobs

6. University of Nottingham – 356 jobs

5. Birmingham City University – 376 jobs

=3. Canterbury Christ Church University – 400 jobs

=3. Lancaster University – 400 jobs

2. University of York – 434 jobs

1. University of Edinburgh – 1,800 jobs

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