Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Cash-strapped uni set to cut staff jobs
Job cuts are looming at the University of Kent as it faces a huge drop in revenue amid plummeting student numbers. Bosses at the institution, which has campuses in Medway and Canterbury, says it is an unprecedented time for the higher education sector.
In an email seen by the Gazette, they cite “rising costs” and the government’s decision to freeze tuition fees at £9,250 for five years as the reasons why they have “to do more with each pound”.
The email read: “This has been made more challenging this year by issues with student retention. “With all this in mind, and to help us find savings wherever we can, we are opening a voluntary severance scheme to which all staff, whether academic or professional services, can apply. “[The university] wanted to say more on where we are and what we are doing to respond to our financial challenges. “Our income is not increasing as much as we need it to, while in real terms it is falling year on year due to tuition fees being ‘fixed’ at the same level as they have been for five years. “All of this is compounded further by the recent rapid increase in inflation.
“There has also been a multi-million-pound impact from the number of students not staying with us to finish their studies, while fuel and wider costs continue to bite.”
The university says there are already measures in place to address its financial challenges. These include investing in priority subject areas, developing the Medway site, recruiting more international students and using its 60th anniversary celebrations to fundraise. Others, though, include reducing staff numbers through a voluntary severance scheme. In response to the email, a university spokesman explained each student’s tuition fees which have remained at the same level for the last four years - were part of the problem. He said: “Like many universities, we need to balance our costs in light of high inflation and the rising cost of living, set against tuition fee income per student remaining fixed at the level it was in 2019.
“We are also continuing to adapt in response to changing student patterns in student behaviour post-pandemic. “As part of this, staff are working together to reduce day-to-day spend, while we’ve also launched a voluntary severance scheme to support any staff looking to leave.”