BBC News
PA MediaJob cuts at Cardiff University threaten the supply of nurses in Welsh health boards, a union leader has warned.
The university has confirmed plans to cut 400 full-time jobs amid a funding shortfall, with proposals involving course closures, and department mergers, with nursing, music and modern languages among the subjects facing cuts.
Helen Whyley, executive director of the Royal College of Nursing Wales, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast the proposals were “worrying.”
Lecturers have begun receiving letters advising them their post is at risk and offering links to support – although the university has said it would only make compulsory redundancies “if absolutely necessary”.
Ms Whyley said the university has a “significant pipeline” in delivering nurses to health boards in south Wales.
“The Welsh government through Health Education Improvement Wales commissions nursing education and funds the universities to do that, and it’s one of our largest providers,” she said.
“It has a school of well over 1,000 students so that’s a significant number that come out every year.
“At a time where we have a significant number of nursing vacancies, it doesn’t take a mathematician to work out the students that come through Cardiff University are a very important contribution into that pipeline,” she said.
Ms Whyley said the cuts would also have an impact on the future of nursing academics.
She added that hospitals in Wales were short of 2,000 nurses and while the number was starting to decrease “hospitals are still in a very difficult position”.
Which courses are at risk of being cut?
- Ancient history and religion
- Theology
- Nursing
- Music
- Modern languages
Which courses are at risk of being merged?
- Chemistry, earth sciences and physics merged to create the School of Natural Sciences
- Computer science and maths merged to become the School of Data Science
- Social sciences, geography and planning merged to become the School of Human and Social Sciences
- English, communication and philosophy, Welsh and remaining elements of history, archaeology and religion and modern languages merged into the School of Global Humanities
Fflur James, a second-year student studying French and Welsh said she and her classmates in the in the modern languages department are facing “uncertainty”.
“I was in a French class and the teacher said she had to leave early to go to a meeting that would determine the demise of the school,” she said.
“Everyone in my class looked at each other in surprise.”
She heard about the closure on the news, she said, and has had no direct messages from the university about what it means for students in the affected departments.
“The uncertainty is the biggest thing and the thing that worries me,” she added.
“I’m not sure where this leaves me. I hope that I’ll graduate here at Cardiff University, but of course that uncertainty is still around us.”
She said she also worries it will limit her learning opportunities, adding: “If I were to choose a specific module, maybe something like Children’s Literature, well maybe the teacher who would have specialised in that would have left, so we will also losing expertise in these cuts.”
Following Tuesday’s announcement, Cardiff lecturers began receiving letters from the university informing them of the planned changes.
They read in part: “Please see attached a copy of your notification of consultation letter advising that your post is at risk of redundancy and providing links to support available for you during this time of change. Also attached are the proposals for change in your school.”
Politicians will speak about the cuts in the Senedd on Wednesday afternoon after the Welsh Conservatives submitted a topical question.
“I am deeply concerned that Cardiff University is planning to cut 400 jobs,” said the Tory education spokeswoman, Natasha Asghar
“What has particularly alarmed me is the cuts being proposed to their nursing course,” she added.
“Our Welsh NHS is on its knees and we are crying out for doctors and nurses, yet this decision will leave us worse off.”
Sector body Universities UK said universities have been doing “more with less for years”.
“The sector desperately needs a funding rethink, starting with a guarantee from government that the recent rise will continue to be matched to inflation, not just a one-off increase,” it said in a statement.
“Our universities are drivers of growth locally and nationally, and they need long-term and sustainable funding to ensure this now and in the future.”
On Tuesday Vice-Chancellor Professor Wendy Larner said the university would have become “untenable” without drastic reforms.
She said the job role cuts were only a proposal, but insisted the university had to “take difficult decisions” amid declining international student applications and increasing cost pressures, and most UK universities were grappling with a “broken” funding system.
Elsewhere, Swansea University said it will have to make £30m of cuts by the 2026/27 financial year despite more than 300 staff members leaving since September 2023.
The university’s annual report, published this week, said it had made £8.5m in savings through voluntary redundancies in this financial year.
But they stated they will extend their current financial savings programme for a further year and increased the level of expenditure savings by £30 million.
Swansea University told Newyddion S4C: “Even taking the additional savings required into account, we are confident that we will meet our academic pay savings targets this year through vacancy management and our Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES) and can avoid compulsory redundancies relating to our financial position.”
Plaid Cymru education spokesperson Cefin Campbell said the news of Cardiff job cuts was met with “deafening silence” by the Welsh government.
He challenged the Welsh government to explain “what they knew and when” about Cardiff’s plans and called on the university to urgently rethink its proposals.
A Welsh government spokesperson said it was “very disappointed that nursing courses form part of these proposals” and that it was “working urgently” to ensure the same number of nurses were trained in Wales.
A statement shared by Cardiff University Student Union president Madison Hutchinson said: “We want to express our unwavering support with all students, and solidarity to staff who may be impacted.”
