Universities across the country are facing significant financial challenges after over a decade of cuts to budgets from the previous Conservative government.
The higher education sector is in crisis. A combination of tuition fees, Brexit, a drop in international student numbers—worsened by the previous government’s hostile stance on immigration—and inflationary pressures has put some universities in extremely difficult circumstances.
That picture is especially true across Yorkshire and Humberside. UNISON is aware of more than 1,300 members of staff at universities across the region (University of Hull, University of York, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Trinity University, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Bradford & University of Huddersfield) who have left their posts, with hundreds (potentially thousands) more at risk.
This article will look to break down the financial challenges faced at universities across the region, the potential cuts being proposed, the impact those cuts could have, and what could be done to avoid such drastic measures.
The overview
UNISON represents staff employed by universities directly, or who work for a contractor supplying services, in nine branches covering 11 different institutions across the region. Of those, at least seven have either made cuts to staffing already, or are proposing to do so. More than a thousand university staff members have already left their positions, and UNISON understands thousands more could be at risk across Yorkshire and Humberside.
The breakdown
The following universities across Yorkshire and Humberside are either facing financial deficits, considering making cuts to staffing numbers, or have already made cuts.
East Yorkshire
University of Hull
The University of Hull has been facing a £23m deficit. During the financial years of 2023/24 and 2024/25, a total of 206 people left their positions at the university. 20 of those were compulsory redundancies (during 24/25), 80 were via a voluntary redundancy scheme (7 in 23/24, 73 in 24/25) and 106 were leavers via a voluntary exit scheme (during 23/24).
North Yorkshire
University of York
The university launched an organisation-wide voluntary severance scheme in May last year, as it looked to make £34m in savings. The university was aiming to save around £24m of that through staff savings, which the university said would be around a 7-8% reduction in staffing. Around 270 members of staff left through the voluntary severance scheme. The University of York met its target for professional and support staff, but did not receive enough applications from academic staff. A compulsory redundancy scheme launched, but alternative financial proposals meant almost all redundancies were avoided.
Central Hall at the University of York
However, the university is no longer forecast to return a surplus this year, and a further £15m of so-called ‘financial improvements’ were announced in February, with the understanding that a targeted voluntary severance scheme will launch, although no details have been provided on which parts of the organisation will be impacted.
Even if the £30 million already found in savings prior to May 2024 is ignored, in that period the University announced one set of £34 million cuts and another £15 million in cuts – £49 million – when the total income of the University last year was £553 million. That’s almost a 10% cut in size in a very short period of time.
South Yorkshire
Sheffield Hallam University
More than 500 members of staff, both academic and professional services, left their jobs during 2024; around 10% of the university workforce. The university laid down a target of saving over £40m for 2024/25. This comes after the institution’s accounts for 23/24 showed a £16.3m deficit, with an ‘underlying operational deficit’ of £3.5m.
Students walking near Sheffield Hallam University.
University of Sheffield
The university is facing a large scale restructure, which could impact as many as 1,300 members of staff. There is a real possibility of hundreds of staff being made redundant. The university faces a budget shortfall of between £45m and £48m over the next three years, but that could rise to as high as £70m.
The university has a high number of foreign students, but is losing a lot due to visas etc. This could have a big impact on the university’s income.
West Yorkshire
Leeds Beckett University
The university launched a voluntary severance scheme last year in a bid to address its budget shortfall. The scheme opened in March and closed in May, with 251 applications made. Of those, 227 were approved, with 201 accepted by staff. 62% of those accepting redundancy were support staff, while the other 38% were academic staff.
Leeds Beckett University entrance on Woodhouse Lane.
Leeds Trinity University
The university had a deficit of £10m, prompting the launch of a voluntary severance scheme. 61 applications have been approved by both the university and the applicant, leaving a remaining deficit of £3m. No firm decisions have yet been made on next steps to address the outstanding deficit.
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford faces a £16m deficit. Almost 90 applications have been approved as part of a voluntary redundancy scheme running over the past 12 months. Compulsory redundancies have now started, with somewhere between 200 and 300 jobs expected to be impacted – around 20% of the university’s workforce. UNISON understands the university is forecasting its income on predicted student numbers; put simply, students who are not yet at the university.
In addition to job cuts, the university is also closing down some courses, such as media studies. This is particularly stark as the city is the home of the National Media Museum, and is the 2025 UK City of Culture.
University of Huddersfield
Last year, almost 200 jobs were announced to be cut by the university – more than 10% of the workforce. UNISON worked jointly with the UCU to negotiate enhanced packages for voluntary redundancy. By the end of the process, only six compulsory redundancies were made.
UNISON members and students at a protest against proposed cuts at the University of Huddersfield in 2024.
The impact
If such drastic cuts to jobs are made at universities across the region, the impact will be felt much further than just within the institutions, UNISON is warning. The way universities operate will be unrecognisable, with many staff losing their jobs, those remaining taking on unmanageable workloads, and student experience suffering, the union says.
But not only that, the knock-on effect will be apparent in local economies. University staff losing their jobs will mean less money to be spent locally. A lesser student experience will mean a drop in student numbers, again resulting in less money going into the local economy.
UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside higher education lead Leonie Sharp said: “The higher education sector is in a dire position, but it could become even worse if proposed cuts by universities go ahead.
“Over the past 14 years, the Conservative government failed to fund the sector properly – and did nothing to make up for the real-terms fall in the value of tuition fees.
“Anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies have also made the UK’s universities less attractive and led to a significant fall in international student levels, which has further worsened the funding crisis.
“UNISON is calling for proper state funding for all public services, including universities.
“The union will defend and support those facing redundancy. University leaders should be campaigning for sufficient funding instead of attempting to fix the problem by cutting jobs and reducing pay.”
What needs to happen
During UNISON’s higher education conference in January, a motion called for a significant political campaign to tackle the financial issues in the sector. It outlined that higher education must be recognised as a public service, and funded through general taxation.
UNISON has also launched a national campaign in an effort to make a lasting impact on the future of the Higher Education sector. ‘Fund Our Future’ is calling for fundamental change in the way the sector is funded, and will be supporting UNISON branches across the country, including in Yorkshire and Humberside, in campaigns to fight cuts.
What is clear is that a radical shakeup to the funding of the higher education sector is needed in order to protect and secure its future.
