Welsh universities face more job losses as huge deficits mount

Universities in Wales are more than £97m in operating deficit with matters likely to get worse before they get better and more job cuts likely. The financial blackhole has swelled by £20m compared to the £77m deficit in 2023-24 although some of the increase is down to one-off costs of redundancies as part of savings programmes to try to balance books, university financial reports show. Continual cost-cutting to make ends meet "is not sustainable" Medr, the Welsh Government body tasked with funding, regulating, and overseeing all post-16 education and research in Wales, warned in a separate report. As universities face falling income, rising bills, and a drop in higher-paying international students bosses must find fresh income such as new overseas markets and partnerships and expanding digital education, the regulator said. Despite the bleak forecast action is being taken and no Welsh university is currently at imminent risk of financial failure, adds Medr in its annual report on the sustainability of universities. Medr's analysis follows years of bruising job and course cuts at universities in Wales with hundreds of staff shed. Matters came to a head last year when Cardiff University embarked on widescale savings which led to the loss of 170 full-time-equivalent posts. Latest annual reports from Wales' eight universities show that despite this at the end of the 2024-25 year five of the eight Welsh universities were in deficit and three were operating only small surpluses. Of those one says it expects to fall into multi-million-pound deficit imminently. Universities repeated warnings of ongoing risks such as a drop in numbers of higher-paying overseas students, stiff competition for home students, and rising staff costs and bills in their latest financial reports. Management insisted they are taking action but still face uncertain times and are not out of the woods. The crisis may now be exacerbated by debate about the lack of graduate jobs, the cost and value of degrees, and mounting tuition fee debt, one University College Union (UCU) officer said. Medr and the UCU said the scale and reasons for the financial pressures were now so wide universities cannot tackle them alone. Universities Wales, which represents the sector, called on the new Welsh Government to work with higher education to help find solutions. “Universities across the UK are under sustained financial pressure, with costs continuing to outpace income," a spokesman for Universities Wales said. “In Wales these pressures are intensified by longer-term funding constraints. For example the removal of dedicated capital funding for universities in 2011-12, with only limited funding since, has restricted universities’ ability to invest in their campuses and infrastructure. “Universities have already taken significant steps to reduce deficits and manage the growing financial challenges but institutional action alone cannot fully address the scale of the issue. “Wales’ universities are national assets, driving opportunity and growth across all parts of the country. We are keen to work with the new Welsh Government to find a sustainable solution that enables universities to continue delivering for Wales.” Estelle Hart, chair of UCU Wales, described university funding as "in crisis" and said more redundancies, including compulsory job losses, are expected. Universities get their funding from a combination of student tuition fees, direct government grants, international student fees, external research grants, and endowments. Some commentatos have questioned large-scale borrowing for new buildings in recent years. "How have insitutions got into these huge deficits? We need to look at governance as well as funding," Ms Hart said. Staff face ongoig job uncertainty. The latest round of job losses was announced at the University of South Wales, which said in March that it is looking to shed 200 posts. Swansea University is currently in redundancy negotiations with a number of staff in a programme of cuts already announced, said Ms Hart. Swansea, which has cut 400 jobs in recent years, opened a further voluntary severance scheme for staff in December for professional services staff and a new voluntary exit scheme for some academic staff . Cardiff University agreed to a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for 2026 after deep cuts there in 2025 saw 170 full-time posts go. Further posts may be cut by 2030 through voluntary redundancy and professional services staff were offered voluntary redundancy at the end of 2025 . Bangor University has shaved 200 jobs as it tries to save £15m and posts have also gone at Cardiff Met. Swansea -£39.9m Cardiff -£33.4m Bangor - £18.3m Cardiff Metropolitan University -£3.8m Aberywtwyth University -£2.4m University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) +£2.8m University of South Wales +£2.4m Wrexham University +£603,000 (but the university's financial report said it is forecasting a budget deficit of £2.8m for the 2025-26 financial year driven "primarily by a reduction in tuition fee income and a significant increase in pay-related costs") In its annual report Cardiff University said part of its larger deficit in 2024-25, compared to 2023-24, was owing to costs of its staff-cutting programme to keep it viable in the long term. "During the 2024-25 year the university made the difficult decision to implement a voluntary severance and voluntary redundancy scheme ('Academic Futures' voluntary phase) to help reduce the payroll to a more sustainable level," the report says. "These schemes resulted in an exceptional cost of £24.3m in 2024-25. While this one-off expense contributed to the overall deficit it is a strategic investment in the university’s future financial health. The reduction in staff through voluntary means will generate substantial recurrent savings – £22m per annum once fully implemented. "These savings will improve our expenditure run-rate in subsequent years, supporting Cardiff’s aim to return the university’s cost base to a position where we can afford to pay for all our activity on a sustainable long-term basis." In its report on the "financial sustainability of the higher education sector in Wales" Medr said "a significant number" of universities have announced cost-cutting measures including voluntary severance schemes, course closures, and other restructuring activities. "Medr’s assessment, based on current information and the successful delivery of planned efficiencies, is that no university in Wales is currently at imminent risk of disorderly financial failure. "However, a number of universities have significant transformation activities to implement in order to secure their longer-term financial sustainability," a spokesman said. A Welsh Government spokesman said: "We are committed to taking forward a broad review of higher education funding with the aim of ensuring the system is financially sustainable and that more of the overall value of public investment benefits Wales. We recognise the significant pressures universities face and will work closely with the sector throughout this process to hear their views.” Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here . We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice .