If the government pushes ahead with plans for 25 per cent funding cuts then there will be a loss of 22,584 university jobs in England alone, according to new figures released on Thursday by the University and College Union (UCU).
The union warned that a significant impact of the planned cuts would be university students in some of the largest class sizes in the developed world.
UCU further warned that slashing university funding would have a devastating effect on the overall quality of students’ experience at university as another knock-on effect would be a huge reduction in vital support services, such as libraries and student counselling.
UCU said that its figures were conservative estimates and that the impact of cuts on jobs and class sizes could be even worse.
The union said its analysis raised serious questions about the country’s future role as a leading player in the global knowledge economy.
The union pointed to the example of America, where Barack Obama has pledged that by 2020 the US will have the highest proportion of university graduates in the world.
The UK is currently the second most popular destination in the world for foreign students after the US.
However, UCU warned that increased class sizes and less contact time with lecturers would make it a far less attractive place to study for overseas learners, who currently contribute £8.5 billion to the economy a year.
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: ‘The scale of the cuts that we are facing is unprecedented and will have an undeniable impact on the student experience.
‘Student to staff ratios, which are already high, will become some of the highest in the developed world.
‘Lecturers that survive the cull will have less time to give individual students as they pick up the workloads of former colleagues and there will be fewer support services for students.
‘The government will effectively be asking students to pay for more for less at a time when our international competitors are investing in higher education.
‘Do we really want to be left behind and risk being shunned by foreign students who will go to study elsewhere?
‘We have a proud international reputation, but we realistically cannot expect to remain a major force in the global knowledge economy in the face of these cuts.’
UCU’s analysis assumes that any cuts would be spread proportionately across staff and non-staff costs.
However, it may well be that variable costs, such as staff costs, take a bigger proportional hit than fixed costs, such as heating and electricity.
In response to the UCU report, the National Union of Students called on the government to ensure that student access to lecturers won’t be harmed by funding cuts.
NUS President, Aaron Porter, said: ‘Staff to student ratios are already under strain and these cuts can only lead to a worsening experience for students.
‘It would be outrageous for the government to consider asking them to pay even more to get a university education especially if quality is worsening.
‘Graduates will be the drivers of our economic recovery and cutting student numbers will inevitably lead to a poorer standard of education.
‘We currently have a world leading education system but if the government undervalues it we will lose the innovation and diverse skills that the UK economy is built on.’
l Teachers union NASUWT on Wednesday responded to reports in the media that Education Secretary Gove is to apologise to Parliament for errors contained in the government’s list of schools to be rebuilt or refurbished under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: ‘The government’s decision to scrap over 700 projects to rebuild or refurbish schools was an unnecessary and disastrous development that history will judge to be bad for children, bad for education and bad for local communities and the economy.
‘The fatal inaccuracies on the government’s list of schools affected by the decisions on future BSF projects will take a wrecking ball to the hopes of school staff and pupils whose futures depended on having their school buildings transformed.
‘Schools that earlier this week were assured that their new buildings had been given the go-ahead have today found that the rug has been pulled from under them.
‘The coalition government’s promises on education simply cannot be trusted.
‘The claim by the Secretary of State that poor administration was a key factor in his decision to scrap the bulk of the school building programme is today looking ridiculous.
‘The coalition government should be focussing on expanding the BSF programme for the benefit of all schools and not just a privileged few.
‘It is simply unacceptable that thousands of young people should be condemned to an education in unfit school buildings whilst money for capital investment is being diverted to shore up the coalition government’s ideologically-driven policy of academy schools.’
Members of the NASUWT in Wales, were taking strike action at Darland High School in Wrexham on Wednesday and Thursday with a further three days planned for next week.
The dispute has arisen over restructuring plans which could lead to job losses.
NASUWT general secretary Keates said: ‘The teachers very much regret having to take this action and for any inconvenience caused to parents of pupils at Darland High School.
‘Our members have had no choice but to take strike action because the school management and the Chair of the Governing Body remain intransigent in the face of repeated requests from the NASUWT to meet to seek a way forward.
‘Rather than talk, the school management and chair of governors, with the support of the Wrexham Authority, decided to threaten to deduct salary from the teachers on a minute-by-minute basis, despite the fact that they were continuing to teach their lessons and do everything necessary to support teaching and learning.
‘Not one minute of teaching time was being lost and pupils were not being disadvantaged.’
Rex Phillips, NASUWT Wales Organiser, said on Wednesday: ‘The NASUWT stands ready to call off the strike action.
‘The Governing Body is meeting this evening. All that is needed is for the threat to deduct salary from teachers to be withdrawn and the school and Local Authority to sit down and engage in dialogue with us to find a way forward to resolve this increasingly and unnecessarily bitter dispute.
‘The NASUWT will lobby governors before tonight’s meeting.’
Staff members and union officials were manning a picket line outside the school from 7am until 10am on the morning of the strike days.
The action planned for next week is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 14, Thursday 15 and Friday 16 July.
