Staff consulted on industrial action at University of Portsmouth over planned job cuts

398 academic staff are to be put at risk of redundancy, as part of University of Portsmouth's 'academic reset' programme that management says is necessary due to recruitment challenges and increased costs.   

UCU has challenged the rationale for the redundancies and says that far from being in financial trouble, University of Portsmouth has almost £329m in the bank and is planning to spend £250m on buildings. 

One of the stated aims of the 'academic reset' is to improve student experience, but UCU believes the proposed cuts will narrow course and module options, endanger the professional accreditation of certain degrees and reduce lecturers' capacity for teaching and support. The University of Portsmouth is seeking to restructure so that there are fewer academic staff per student on its courses. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'UCU stands with staff at University of Portsmouth, who are at risk of redundancy due to a failure of leadership.  It cannot be right that the university is putting staff at risk of redundancy, while spending more on management and new buildings. 

'UCU believes that University of Portsmouth's biggest asset is its staff, and if the university seeks to push through eye-watering cuts it will only destabilise the university and face the disruption of potential industrial action.'