Durham University has become the latest Russell Group institution to announce plans to cut jobs, stating it needs to reduce staff costs by £20 million over the next two academic years.
Staff at the north-east England university were told on 28 January that the initial £10 million in savings planned for this year will initially hit professional services staff. A further £10 million reduction is planned in 2025-2026, with £5 million more coming from professional services and a further £5 million from academic staff costs.
In total, the university estimates that this will result in the loss of around 200 professional services staff this year, while it did not provide an estimate on the total number of academic posts it looks set to lose.
Durham said that “strenuous efforts” will be made to secure these savings through a voluntary severance package but added that “compulsory measures cannot be ruled out”. It said that it had shared details of the proposals with campus trade unions, and had launched a consultation.
The University and College Union (UCU) branch at Durham said it was “appalled” by the proposals and it has informed the university that it will begin “formal dispute procedures”.
Last November, Durham announced several cost-saving measures including reducing energy use, phasing planned capital expenditure and reducing the use of external consultants, as well as opening a voluntary severance scheme.
In its most recent accounts, the university reported an underlying operating deficit of £8 million and it said, although this had been agreed with its council, it “must return to surplus”.
Karen O’Brien, Durham’s vice-chancellor, said the university “cannot fulfil our aims of remaining a world-class centre of research and education without a firmly established and sustainable financial base”.
She added: “We appreciate today’s announcement will be concerning to staff. We are committed to working with our recognised trade unions and our staff in an open, transparent, and timely way to achieve the savings required.”
The university noted the sector was facing “an extremely difficult environment” due to frozen domestic tuition fees since 2017, inflation and falling international student recruitment. It has confirmed it will increase fees for new and returning students from the start of the next academic year, in line with the government’s decision to raise the fee cap to £9,535.
In a statement, Durham UCU said the cuts were primarily targeting those who “provide the backbone infrastructure that allows our university to function smoothly” and warned of a “diminished student experience” and increased workloads for remaining staff.
It added: “Since the employer has refused to rule out compulsory redundancies, on January 24 2025, we sent the employer a notice of ‘failure to agree’, initiating formal dispute procedures. As a branch, Durham UCU will continue to fight for the jobs and working conditions for all our members.”
Durham follows Newcastle University, which announced last week that almost 300 jobs are at risk as it looked to save £20 million on staff costs. Meanwhile, the University of Kent has announced it will be making further cuts as it looks to save another £19.5 million.
One vice-chancellor has anticipated the number of job cuts across the sector could soon hit 10,000, with almost all institutions said to be looking at making savings.
