Friday brief: Course cuts considered by under pressure university
Plus some other Northants news from the past seven days
The University of Northampton (UoN) could be looking to reduce or make cuts to its curriculum, amid ongoing redundancy talks in the face of financial pressures.
It recently announced that discussions about a proposed Voluntary Severance Scheme (VRS) will take place in November as several factors have “threatened” the stability in higher education. This follows an earlier voluntary redundancy scheme announced in June, which was in response to a projected £19.3 million deficit that the University would face without taking action.
A source has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that dozens of courses have been informed they could be put under consultation, where they would be at risk of being merged with other related subjects or dropped from the university entirely.
In an email seen by the LDRS, the University has already sent out correspondence to some students saying that it is evaluating certain courses to “maximise the opportunity for high graduate outcomes”. It further states that the UON may need to vary programmes “substantially” in some cases.
It says that a decision will be made regarding the course consultation in early 2025 and that current students will not be affected if they complete studies in the ‘standard’ period of time.
Students studying BA Illustration at the university have started a petition to save the course after finding out that they will be one of the subjects up for consultation. Some have raised concerns that the possible changes could affect their quality of teaching if redundancies are made in the department and worry that the arts in general are being disregarded by the University.
Illustration student Megan Clarke, 22, said:
“As a first year, you feel let down by the uni because you have signed on to this course that you expect is going to support you and wants you to thrive. If the course is cut or changed in some way, they might have to drop jobs and I think the worry is what if we get to second year or third year and we don’t have any tutors left?
“On face value, it wouldn’t affect us but I think long term it could. It feels weird to come here thinking you’re in a place where they value creativity for them to say they’re thinking about cutting most of that out.”
Frederick Yorke, 20, added:
“I feel like the creative courses have been undermined and left in the dust. [Nationally, universities] have always talked about cutting costs for things like the creative departments and putting more of a focus on things like business.
“I just find that unfair. Art is very important and it’s needed absolutely everywhere.”.
Another student also raised concerns that they might not be able to take a gap year during their studies as the course may not be taking on new year groups when they return. The University has said that if components of the programme are no longer available it will “explore alternative options” to ensure students complete a programme of study.
Third-year Illustration student Amy Sharp, 21, said that her course relies massively on the community between years. She said it would be detrimental for students to lose out on that and worried that more specialist courses would be watered down if they were merged together or changed.
“The current lecturers in the illustration department all bring something extremely valuable to the course. By cutting that down you’re losing access to that. They’re specialist subjects for a reason and it almost feels demeaning for the courses by suggesting that they can just be so easily merged together,” she explained.
A University spokesperson has said that the course consultations have not begun as discussions are still ongoing with the trade unions and employee representatives, so any potential impact won’t be known for “quite some time”. They reassured that any changes will not affect current students, as all programmes will be kept in place through a “teaching out” process, whereby changes will be implemented after they leave.
Labour MP for Northampton South Mike Reader told the LDRS :
“The announcement of a second round of voluntary redundancies at the University of Northampton is a warning that our higher education sector needs urgent support. I have been fully engaged with the university, and I recognise this decision hasn’t been taken lightly.
“I have already raised my concerns with the Secretary of State, Bridget Phillipson, especially around the funding of courses that are key to Northampton’s economy. The current financial crisis facing universities is a direct result of years of underfunding, exacerbated by the Conservatives VISA and Immigration policies which have created a toxic culture for overseas students.
“I will continue to push for stable, long-term funding for our university sector in Parliament. Going further, I have joined the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for universities, our cross-party work will be key in tackling this issue within parliament. The government has a clear plan to strengthen our universities through reforms that put teaching quality and financial sustainability first. The university is crucial for developing the talented workforce our town needs. It is vital to our local economy and town centre.”
Northampton North MP Lucy Rigby also added:
“High education funding has unfortunately been left on an unsustainable footing and I’m concerned about the potential impact of the financial challenges being faced by UoN- for staff, current and future students and our town as a whole. Clearly, there are sector-wide issues which need addressing and I intend to raise the challenges being faced by UoN with Ministers.”
A UoN spokesperson said that universities across the UK are facing “pressing challenges” and that it must do what it can to “secure its future” in difficult times.
“Economic, market, and policy factors, such as frozen tuition fees, rising operational and energy costs, and recruitment issues across the sector, have threatened higher education’s financial stability in 2024 and beyond.
“The decision to begin this process of consultation has not been reached lightly, and we appreciate that it is not an easy choice for those colleagues who may opt to take the enhanced voluntary severance package we will offer. We will continue to do all we can to support staff through the process and ensure that there is minimum disruption to our students.”
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
News in brief
Northampton Town Council passed a motion this week calling on the West unitary authority to let it remain in the Guildhall. The town council will be evicted from March as part of plans to repurpose the guildhall. The coroners court will remain in the building but the town council has been told to leave. The statues of Northampton’s famous folk in the courtyard are also likely to be moved to other places across the town.
Ofsted inspectors have praised the way children leaving local authority care in North Northants are supported.
A report published yesterday said there had been ‘substantial improvements’ from its previous inspection in 2022, finding that young people had good relationships with their personal advisers and that plans were individually tailored to them. The service is run by an independent children’s trust.
Julian Wooster, Chair of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust said:
“We are incredibly proud of our care experienced young people and their eagerness to share their lived experiences with us and the Ofsted inspectors. It was heartening to hear how well they feel supported by the workforce and their commitment to improving the lives of children and young people in Northamptonshire.
“Working collaboratively with North Northamptonshire Council we know that we can take forward and implement the Ofsted recommendations so that together we can achieve the best possible outcomes for children, young people and families in the county.”
There was however criticism of the way the service links with the housing service.
The report said:
“Securing permanent housing for care-experienced young people is hampered by the poor communication and relations between the housing department and leaving care service. Most care-experienced young people aged 18 to 20 have priority housing status. However, once they reach 21, they lose any priority housing rights, meaning they may have to wait years before being allocated a home. This is a disadvantage to those returning to the area after studying and for those more vulnerable care leavers who need more time to develop the independence skills required to maintain a tenancy.
“Too much responsibility is sometimes placed on young people to be more proactive in bidding for properties or to make their own case around vulnerability and need to housing officers. When supporting young people through the appeals process, PAs are spending an inordinate amount of time preparing reports, which is taking them away from working directly with young people.”
Cllr Scott Edwards, who is the North cabinet members for children’s services said the council would make improvements to its housing service.
Everything stated in this article around general underfunding for universities, alongside the knock-on effects of Brexit and Covid, is true but the University of Northampton and its then VC, Nick Petford, created this problem by pursuing the vanity project of the new campus (a campus without lecture halls remember!).
The university has a huge loan it has to pay back over decades - but can no longer afford to put on courses for students.
Probably a sign of the government’s priorities that this week’s budget made no mention of higher education although both schools and FE colleges were allocated small funding increases.