The Russell Group universities that cut the most of your lecturers’ jobs this year

Over the last year, loads of UK universities announced huge job cuts, and loads of lecturers went on strike over it. Even the extra-prestigious Russell Group unis are struggling for funds at the moment. Here’s a detailed look at precisely which Russell Group unis cut the most jobs over the last year.

The Russell Group university which got rid of the most staff in 2025 was the University of Sheffield. Management axed 614 jobs. This is huge, considering the uni also cut 298 jobs in the year before. Yikes. As of summer 2025, Sheffield had a scary operating deficit of £11.5 million.

The University of Oxford wasn’t far behind, with 545 jobs. This number looks scary compared to the other unis on this list, but it’s worth noting that 81 of those employees worked for Oxford University Press.

This data all comes from each uni’s annual accounts, which refer to the 2024-2025 academic year. A handful of Russell Group unis – Cardiff University, University of Edinburgh, University of Liverpool and University of Nottingham – still haven’t published their accounts, so aren’t included in this ranking. Many of the employees in these figures will have left through a voluntary redundancy scheme, or because the uni will have not renewed their contract. Remember, unis don’t only employ lecturers. Many unis are cutting back on support staff.

So, here are the Russell Group unis ranked by how many jobs they cut in the 2024-2025 academic year, plus the whopping amounts they paid out to these people:

20. University of Glasgow

Some actual Glasgow Uni students

Paid £100,650 to two employees

19. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

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Paid £798,000 to 58 employees

18. University of Leeds

Paid £1,824,000 to 115 employees

17. University of Southampton

Paid £1,350,000 to 158 employees

16. University of Warwick

Paid £2,250,000 to 184 employees

15. University of Bristol

Paid £1.6 million to 216 employees

14. University of Manchester

Manchester looking rainy

Paid £1,700,000 to 234 employees

13. Queen Mary University of London

Paid £6,221,967 to 277 employees

12. University of Birmingham

Paid £12,400,000 to 286 employees

11. Imperial College London

Paid £1,700,000 to 293 employees

10. King’s College London (KCL)

Paid £3,602,000 million to 327 employees

9. University College London (UCL)

That one recognisable UCL building

Paid £3,600,000 to 387 employees

8. University of York

Paid £6,784,000 to 393 employees

7. Newcastle University

Paid £10,100,000 to 394 employees

6. Durham University

Paid £11,900,000 million to 424 employees

5. University of Exeter

Paid £10,038,000 to 427 employees

4. University of Cambridge

Paid £5,940,000 million to 480 employees

3. Queen’s University Belfast

Paid £19,190,000 to 518 employees

2. University of Oxford

Paid £5,379,000 to 545 employees

1. University of Sheffield

Paid £10,900,000 to 614 employees

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