Government policy risks privatisation, job cuts and worse deal for students, warns union

Last week London Metropolitan University said it was seeking to make 229 redundancies, which would result in over two-thirds (70%) of its courses being axed.

Yesterday NHS London announced that it was cutting the number of adult nurse training places in London by over a quarter from 2,000 down to 1,580, which will see the University of West London (formerly Thames Valley University) stripped of its contract to provide adult nursing training.

Other universities are being lured towards private for-profit education providers to try and make up some of their funding shortfall. However, the union warned that private companies' first priority is their shareholders and they will look to asset-strip the most likely profitable courses and discard those unlikely to make money, such as well-regarded arts and humanities courses.

The University of West England (UWE) is the latest to consider a partnership with a private for-profit company in a bid to recruit more international students. UCU said UWE's decision to turn to Kaplan, which has been involved in a string of scandals in the US, was evidence of how desperate institutions are to offset the loss of UK students under the new market system.

The impact of the complete slashing of funding for arts and humanities courses is already being felt. Last summer, Middlesex University closed its highly-regarded department of philosophy, despite it having the highest research ranking of any of the university's departments.

The government is also making sweeping changes to teacher training that will significantly reduce the amount of time trainee teachers spend at university learning their skills, decimating the number of courses at universities. This is despite the fact in 2009-10 OFSTED rated half of teacher training (47%) in higher education institutions as outstanding, compared to just a quarter (26%) that was school-based.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "The government's decision to slash teaching for arts and humanities, large sections of teacher training and nursing will have a devastating impact on our universities.

"Universities trying to adapt to this new system must refrain from making knee-jerk cuts or climbing in bed with private companies that are little more than asset-strippers looking to slice off the courses they think will deliver them the greatest profit.

"The government must ensure the forthcoming grant letter from the Higher Education Funding Council for England delivers some welcome relief for our beleaguered universities - or courses, jobs and even universities will be at serious risk."