3 days ago
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Bangor University aims to cut about 200 jobs to make savings of £15m, its vice chancellor told staff in an email.
Vice chancellor professor Edmund Burke said the drop in international students, a rise in costs and the UK government's changes to national insurance had left them needing to make "unprecedented" changes.
He said the university aimed to extend the voluntary redundancy scheme which is live at the moment, but compulsory redundancies might be needed.
The UK government has been asked to comment.
It comes as multiple universities across the UK say they are in financial crisis and have to make job cuts, with Cardiff University planning to cut 400 jobs.
Bangor University has around 10,000 students and is thought to have around 650 academic staff members, though the voluntary redundancy scheme will be offered to non-academic staff too.
"These sector level challenges are very significant for us," Prof Burke said.
"In autumn 2024, our student intakes were smaller than in 2023, falling short of our budget target. Our home undergraduate intake was 7% smaller and, without medicine, was down 11%.
"Our international intake was also smaller, with our September international postgraduate intake around half the size of the 2023 intake".
Staff have been invited to a meeting with university bosses on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the proposed changes and will have a chance to voice concerns.
Prof Burke said in the email that though universities are able to increase fees for incoming students to £9,535 from 2025/26 onwards, "there is no agreement for future inflation adjustment to the amount of money we receive per student".
He added: "UK universities have been increasingly reliant on international income to make up for the shortfall from home fees not increasing by inflation.
"The UK government's action to reduce the level of immigration has led to a fall in international students coming to study in the UK."
He said the new UK government did not seem to be planning to reverse these changes.
Adding to the pressure, Prof Burke added: "Some high-tariff universities appear to have responded to the fall in international student intakes by reducing their entry grades and taking more home students. This has reduced the size of the pool of students coming to other universities."
To cut costs, the vice chancellor said the university had already moved staff out of some buildings and these are to be sold.
"While we must make some difficult decisions, I believe that by successfully implementing our plans, we will restore the university to a stable and sustainable position," he said.
On Tuesday the minister responsible for higher education in Wales asked universities to "consider all options", including using its financial reserves, to prevent job losses.
Vikki Howells, the Welsh government's minister in charge, announced on Tuesday a further £19m for the higher education sector, despite stating earlier this month that no extra money was available.
