Stop the Cuts: Fund Higher Education NOW!

The UK higher education sector is in crisis

UCU members working in universities and higher education institutions urgently need:

• an end to the broken fee-based funding model
• introduction of measures, such as student number controls, to stop unhealthy competition
• a governance review of higher education
• an end to hostile environment policies that make the UK a difficult choice for international students.

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
• Monday 31 March-Friday 4 April: 'Stop the Cuts' week of action

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

Resources

Posters, placards and flyers

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Campaign logos

Social media graphics

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Animated GIFs

'Stop the Cuts' campaign briefing

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

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.

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.