Stop the Cuts: Fund Higher Education NOW!

The UK higher education sector is in crisis

We call for immediate action to halt the devastating cuts sweeping across our universities.

The current crisis is unsustainable, and it is vital that the government intervenes now to protect our educational institutions:

• One in every two universities is cutting staff jobs and student courses. This alarming trend is not just numbers; it represents the loss of dedicated educators and vital programmes that serve our communities.
• The funding model is failing, destabilising staff and students. The ongoing financial struggles for universities puts immense pressure on both employees and learners, leading to uncertainty and a decline in educational quality.
• The government must intervene to stop this crisis. Urgent action is required to secure commitments from university leaders to halt job cuts, redundancies, and course closures, and to improve pay and working conditions for staff.

Staff and students should not suffer the consequences for the failures of university management and previous government policies.

We demand a robust funding package that addresses these issues and fosters a more sustainable future for higher education.

UCU's Stop the Cuts campaign

• UCU will put pressure on the UK government to change their current position and invest and intervene to alleviate the crisis in higher education
• UCU will demonstrate the current dire conditions in UK universities and the consequences of government inaction
• UCU will continue to support all branches and members in our fight to protect jobs.

Our campaign elements

• Stop the Cuts petition
• Rally and parliamentary lobby
• Evidence-gathering and reports
• Programme for branches and members fighting redundancies
• Stop the Cuts member network
• Stop the Cuts week of action
• Online and print materials.

Key dates

• Monday 3 March: 'Stop the Cuts' campaign official launch and opening of our petition
• Tuesday 18 March: UCU rally and parliamentary lobby
• Wednesday 2 April: Westminster Hall debate
• Monday 5 May-Friday 9 May: 'Stop the Cuts' week of action leading up to...
• ... Saturday 10 May: national, cross-sector demonstration in Central London

Please look out for more information and updates over the coming weeks.

Stop the Cuts petition

In January 2025, UCU launched the Stop the Cuts petition.

We encourage all UCU members and supporters in all sectors to sign the petition, and stand against cuts and advocate for proper funding for higher education!

Westminster Hall debate, April 2025

A Westminster Hall debate on the 'Impact of university finances on jobs in higher education' took place on Wednesday 2 April, 14:30 to 16:00.

We are very grateful to Mohammad Yasin, Member of Parliament for Bedford, for leading this debate. In total, twenty MPs across the political spectrum spoke at the debate about institutions in their constituencies, including Bournemouth, Brunel, Dundee, Essex, Nottingham and Nottingham Trent, York and York St John, UEA and many others.

It is vital that we build upon support from MPs and continue to make our voices and our demand for urgent intervention to address the crisis in higher education heard loud and clear.

We encourage everyone to watch the recording of this debate on parliamentlive.tv (from 14:30:00 onwards) or read the full transcript on Hansard.

Stop the Cuts rally and parliamentary lobby, March 2025

Congratulations to everyone that joined our lobby of Parliament on Tuesday 18 March 2025. Higher education members across the UK came to press MPs to support our campaigns. Politicians were matched with constituents in a packed committee room where they also heard briefings from UCU general secretary Jo Grady and UCU officers. This was a fantastic event aimed at boosting political awareness of the unfolding crisis in higher education and the need for urgent government intervention. More materials from the rally and the parliamentary lobby will be made available here very soon.

Stop the Cuts campaign briefing, February 2025

You can watch a recording of the Stop the Cuts campaigning briefing from Wednesday 19 February, featuring Maria Chondrogianni (UCU president elect and chair of the higher education committee) and Yetunde Akintewe (UCU head of communication and campaigns).

The Minister of State for Skills answers your questions, January 2025

In January 2025 UCU general secretary Jo Grady met with the Minister of State for Skills, Baroness Smith of Malvern. This was an opportunity to put our concerns about the state of UK universities, and what the Labour government should urgently do about the sector, directly to the minister. Watch the full interview below.

Resources

Posters, placards and flyers

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Campaign logos

Social media graphics

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Read UCU's publications on higher education

UCU has recently published a series of on higher education:

• 'Support for research staff', a UCU report based on freedom of information (FOI) requests to 103 UK higher education institutions and which lays bare the extent of shocking 'gig-economy' style employment practices at some of the most prestigious universities in the country 
• 'Academic freedom in the digital university' by Chavan Kissoon and Terence Karran (University of Lincoln): more than eight in 10 (82%) UK academics say universities' excessive use of digital technologies has harmed academic freedom
• 'Assessing the costs of removing undergraduate tuition fees across the UK' by London Economics: a levy of around 1% on employer national insurance contributions for graduates could support the scrapping of tuition fees at no cost to the Exchequer
• 'Non-visibly disabled PGR experiences of studies and careers' by Tanya Osborne (University of Gothenburg), Phoenix Andrews (independent researcher) and Zara Bain (University of Bristol): less than four in ten (36%) postgraduate researchers (PGRs) with non-visible disabilities are happy with the support they receive from their university.

See also 'Harnessing the power of post-compulsory education', a booklet which highlights important ways we can harness the extraordinary power that exists within our post-compulsory education sector if only the conditions are created by the Labour government to enable this to happen.

Extend your solidarity to staff under attack

UCU is determined to resist the waves of job cuts and attacks on working conditions taking place across UK universities. You can click here for a list of current industrial disputes and find out how you can support them and extend your solidarity. The list is updated continually by UCU staff so please check back regularly.