Mismanagement and poor funding have created a crisis in HE, but university unions are fighting, and winning, battles to save jobs and courses, reports Jamal Elaheebocus

University managements are exploiting a funding crisis in higher education to make brutal and sweeping job cuts across the sector. Hundreds of jobs have already been lost and as many as 20,000 jobs are at risk.

Many universities are running in significant debt, due to severe cuts in government funding to higher education in the last decade and a half and mismanagement by university bosses, who have spent millions on new buildings and campuses abroad. These same bosses are now seeking to cut their staffing bills by cutting academic and professional-services staff.

However, workers are fighting back against these attacks on their jobs and their institutions, with some significant victories.

Imperial College London

Workers from UCU, Unite and Unison at Imperial College London are in the midst of a fight against an insulting 2% pay rise offered by management, which has admitted the offer was calculated using faulty benchmarking data.

This pay offer comes despite Imperial College London having a total income of £1.33 billion in 2024, £81 million more than expected. The university has more than £2 billion in net assets.

The dispute has involved 1,200 teaching and non-teaching staff who have been on strike throughout October and November. They are demanding a 7.2% pay rise, to restore real-terms pay to 2018 levels, plus a £2,000 lump sum to offset income lost through years of sub-inflation increases.

Workers are next on strike from 25-28 November.

Sheffield universities

Workers at both universities in Sheffield are taking a combined 28 days of strike action in November and December as they fight cuts and job losses.

Staff at Sheffield Hallam University are in the middle of twelve days of action which began on 11 November, as management refuses to rule out compulsory redundancies. One thousand jobs have already been lost at the university in the last two years, with 500 jobs axed last year and 170 since May 2025. Management is seeking to cut a further eighty jobs. Further strike action is taking place from 17-20 November and 1-5 December.

At the University of Sheffield, sixteen days of strike action are taking place beginning on the 17 November, with workers working one day a week for the next four weeks.

This is in response to management putting five academic areas at risk of redundancy, with continued risk of redundancy for professional services staff. Management at Sheffield plans to cut at least £5 million by cutting jobs, with more cuts expected after that.

University of Dundee

UCU members at the University of Dundee took four days of strike action last week, as part of their long-standing dispute against severe job cuts. Workers will continue taking action short of strike, including working to contract and not undertaking voluntary activities.

It comes in response to the Principal at Dundee, Nigel Seaton, revealing that job cuts will exceed the 300 agreed with the Scottish government, when the government granted £40 million of emergency cash.

According to a draft recovery plan, 390 jobs could be axed, including 170 compulsory redundancies. UCU members argue they have been misled over the scale of the job cuts and have only found out about the extra cuts via the media.

University of Nottingham

A victory was secured by UCU members at the University of Nottingham, as management committed to no compulsory redundancies. Strike action had been taken in response to a proposed restructuring which would see a number of courses, including nursing, axed and the loss of more than 200 jobs. Management will also have to consult staff on alternatives to their planned closure of 28 degree programmes.

Workers will continue taking action short of a strike until the end of December.

Lancaster

Lancaster University workers will take two days of strike action on 27 and 28 November to fight back against management plans to axe 400 jobs by the end of the academic year, including over 200 academics. Workers are already taking action short of a strike by working to rule.

UCU members are arguing that management is squandering money on vanity projects, such as a new campus in India. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Management is relying on overly pessimistic figures and must now fully open the books and work with us to protect jobs and student provision here in Lancaster, rather than spending a fortune on vanity campuses on the other side of the world. If the university does not listen, it will face disruption on campus this month and the potential of more action in the new year.’

University of Leicester

Leicester UCU members are in the middle of industrial action in response to management proposing cutting 163 jobs. This will involve cutting down staff in history and merging chemistry, geography and geology.

Strike action will continue until 21 November. Leicester UCU co-chair Dr Caren Frosch said: ‘These plans are a disaster for students, for the university and for the affected staff, many of whom now risk losing their livelihoods and being forced out of their chosen profession.’

‘By smashing up some of the most successful areas of research and teaching at the university, by limiting choices to future students, and by creating more holes in our professional services, senior management are making the situation worse.’

University of Edinburgh

Industrial action is taking place at the University of Edinburgh from 17-19 November as staff fight against huge cuts proposed by management. Management is cutting £140 million of expenditure, including £92 million in staff cuts, with the potential for 1,800 jobs to be lost. A large number of casualised stuff have already lost their jobs.

Unlike other universities, the University of Edinburgh is not running in deficit and the institution’s net assets now sit at over £3.1 billion.

University of the Highlands and Islands

UCU members in the executive office of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) are taking action against ten compulsory redundancies, which form a part of £2 million worth of cuts being proposed at the Scottish university.

Five series of voluntary redundancies and severances have already taken place in the last five years and workers describe being worked to the bone.

University of West Scotland

EIS members at the University of West Scotland have secured a ‘clear victory’ as management was forced to guarantee no compulsory redundancies for academic staff. It comes after eight days of industrial action in response to management proposing to cut the equivalent of 75 full-time academic jobs.

EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: ‘It is incredibly encouraging that, through constructive dialogue, the University of the West of Scotland has finally agreed to remove the threat of compulsory redundancies.

‘The decision to strike is never one taken lightly but was a necessary last resort in this long-running dispute, and the outcome proves the immense value of collective action.’