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staffsucu.bsky.social

@staffsucu.bsky.social
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Umberto Albarella STOP THE GENOCIDE! @umbertoalbarella.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
University of Sheffield staff are now officially locked out! Please consider a small donation to help us continue our fight to save the university from the greed of corporate power! Please also share the link! @ucu.org.uk @sheffielducu.bsky.social www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
gofundme.com
Donate to Support University of Sheffield striking staff!, organized by Mark Pendleton
I'm the branch treasurer for the University of Sheffield University and… Mark Pendleton needs your support for Support University of Sheffield striking staff!
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 20/01/2026
While hundreds of staff have left University of Edinburgh amid £140m of budget cuts, senior managers spent £111,736 on travel and accommodation over the same period. These are not abstract numbers. They represent real jobs, real students, and real priorities.
heraldscotland.com
Edinburgh Uni bosses spent more than £110,000 on travel last year
During this time period, bosses spoke publicly about the need to slash as much as £140 million, including £90m in staff costs, from the…
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Northumbria UCU Branch @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
How does it feel when your employer doesn't seem to be bothered about the risks to staff morale and retention caused by plans to steal pay and pensions? @northumbriauni.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social @moneyontheleft.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 20/01/2026
“You can’t cut one in ten staff without damaging students and teaching.” 85% of University of Essex staff have voted for strike action over plans to cut 400 jobs and close the Southend campus. Show your support and solidarity as they prepare to fight back. www.ucu.org.uk/article/1432...
ucu.org.uk
University of Essex staff vote for strike action in fight against job cuts
Staff at the University of Essex have voted to take industrial action in a dispute over plans axe 400 jobs, the University and College Union announced today
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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Dreadful stuff from the Uni of Sheffield. Please do support the @sheffielducu.bsky.social crowdfunder if you can afford to do so.
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Leicester UCU @leicesterucu.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Leicester UCU is back on the pickets on Thursday, 11-2pm: Join us at 1.30 near the library for a stellar teach-out on solidarity!
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Lorna Richardson @lornarichardson.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
There must be a handbook that senior management work from on this, because it’s exactly the same as the UEA experience & now colleagues at Essex. Solidarity with everyone going through this absolute avoidable horror
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Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
The average salary among Russell Group leaders increased above £350,000 last year, despite these universities losing almost 7,000 staff members due to cost-cutting. Patrick Jack crunches the numbers #highered #academicsky ow.ly/gJK850XU77K
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James Mittra @jmittra.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
I'd also like to see figures on money spaffed on management consultants whilst universities slash budgets that support staff to actually deliver research and teaching.
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Leicester UCU @leicesterucu.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Sir Nishan? Many of our members are shocked our VC is to be knighted during a grueling redundancy programme, with more consultations announced today! Only two months ago, 1,022 university members participated in a confidence vote and overwhelmingly voted ‘no confidence’ in him.
uculeicester.org.uk
Leicester University Vice Chancellor Loses Vote of No Confidence | University of Leicester UCU
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
'More universities have severed ties with fossil fuel companies, banning them from recruitment fairs and refusing to advertise roles in the industry, according to the latest higher education league table.'
theguardian.com
Eight more UK universities cut recruitment ties with fossil fuel industry
Manchester Metropolitan University again wins top spot for climate and social justice in league table
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Anna Aslanyan @anna-aslanyan.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
lrb.co.uk
Anna Aslanyan | On the Picket Line
On Monday morning, more than a hundred people formed a picket line outside one of the entrances to the British Library...
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Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Latest monthly visa application figures are out. Skilled workers? Still dropping. Health & care workers? Still dropping. Slow clap.
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Dr Matilda Fitzmaurice @matildaf.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
A Senate inquiry in Australia has found that corporatised universities have 'betrayed' students and staff. Good stuff. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...
abc.net.au
'Dirty secret' of higher education revealed as senate inquiry calls on universities to change
The final report into governance has called for state and Commonwealth legislation to refocus universities on teaching and research.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Chief exec of OfS 'said the OfS believes there are 24 institutions at risk of exiting the market in the next 12 months, seven of which are large providers with more than 3,000 students. There are another 25 or so institutions of various sizes at risk over a two- to three-year period, she added.'
timeshighereducation.com
Seven ‘large providers’ at risk of going under in the next year
Skills minister says no higher education institutions are at imminent risk of collapse this year but OfS confirms more than 20 providers are being closely monitored
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Dr Jared Jeyaretnam ⚛️🧪 @jaredjeya.github.io · 07/11/2025
Some petitions to sign to protest Nottingham’s cuts! #AcademicSky Save Modern Languages - c.org/D5v6qstzyW Save Agriculture - c.org/bgxhcKVHYk
c.org
Sign the Petition
Stop the removal of Modern Languages courses at the University of Nottingham!
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Reposted by @staffsucu.bsky.social
Hannah Robbins (they/them) @drhannahrobbins.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Although I am inevitably caught up in the likely dire implications for my department (Music), it isn’t just us in the Faculty of Arts or in the university under threat. Do consider signing this petition in support of colleagues teaching Theology! c.org/6kntRm2JVh
c.org
Sign the Petition
Stop the removal of Theology Undergraduate courses at the University of Nottingham
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Reposted by @staffsucu.bsky.social
Dr Jared Jeyaretnam ⚛️🧪 @jaredjeya.github.io · 07/11/2025
Save Nursing - c.org/HVr7Rfrhsz
c.org
Sign the Petition
Stop the suspension of Uni of Nottingham Mental Health & Child Nursing + Health Promotion
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
'While stating that a crackdown on the higher education sector could have a negative impact for the country at large, Centre for Cities said the impact would be more heavily felt in cities including Leicester, Plymouth, Hull and Stoke-on-Trent.' 1/2
theguardian.com
Crackdown on international students could hurt struggling UK cities, thinktank warns
University sector, which is reliant on overseas students for a quarter of income, key to economic activity in cities like Leicester and Hull
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Dr Chris Smith @spyhistorian.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Once again, the prestigious universities have pillaged the market, to their own destruction as a brand and the detriment to the students they are recruiting but can't teach properly. All the while laying financial waste to the post-1992s that can. When is government going to step in and fix this?
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Dr Chris Smith @spyhistorian.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Not tue students and not the universities that have spent decades building a particular brand. Meanwhile, the post-1992s *specialise* in taking often disadvantaged students and coverting them into high class graduates. That is the model. The funding regime has destroyed this to the detriment of all
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Dr Chris Smith @spyhistorian.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
To be fair, UKHEIs have made some truly terrible decisions, but ultimately the fault lies with the last government and this one for not fixing a broken funding model. The result will be more job losses at post-1992s, destroyed working conditions elsewhere and poor student outcomes.
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Jenni Hyde @wallyberry.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Hello UK friends - please, please could you sign this petition against the job cuts at my place of work - 1 in 4 us will be out of a job by August next year if we don't stop the cuts. And once you've signed it, please share. We need your help! www.change.org/p/stop-mass-...
change.org
Sign the Petition
Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University – Hold Senior Management Accountable
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BCU UCU @bcu-ucu.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Great support from @staffsucu.bsky.social Aidan at our @ucu.org.uk lobby of the @mybcu.bsky.social governors today. Thank you Staffs for your ongoing support including your donation to our fighting fund! #SaveBCU
Aidan with megaphone in front of BCU signage
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Lincoln Branch of UCU @uculincolnbranch.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Inaccuracies ✅ Missing data ✅ This sounds so very, very familiar…
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Paul Young @pjyng.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
If you're as concerned as me about the pace and scale of proposed staff cuts and department closures at UK universities, this piece arguing for a new regulatory framework is worth a read 👇 isrf.org/blog/a-new-r...
isrf.org
A New Regulatory Framework for University Cuts
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Oh, here's a shock: Higher Education has a management problem because its culture is saturated with bullying and bad practice. Dundee's Gillespie is just the particular person acting as a lightning rod here.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
The report on failures at Dundee University is devastating. All sorts of financial, leadership and governance failures. And this ol’ indicator: ‘Female members of staff in particular, reported being spoken over, side-lined or discussed in public as being obstructive’ www.sfc.ac.uk?news=dundee-...
sfc.ac.uk
Dundee investigation report published - Scottish Funding Council
SFC Chief Executive welcomes “robust and comprehensive report” into financial position at the University of Dundee.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
'The university has informed staff of plans to cut 400 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions by July 2026, with academics the first to go.' Professor Andy Schofield, VC at Lancaster University since 2020, will take up position of Principal & VC at Glasgow University on 1 October 2025.
timeshighereducation.com
Lancaster University to cut one in five academic jobs
Institution says it is ‘not immune’ to financial challenges as it looks to axe 400 jobs
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UNISON Manchester Metropolitan University @unisonmmu.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
Our sector is being failed by poor leaders who make us, the university workers, pay for their failings. Their answer is to cut our services to the bone and impose insulting pay offers that fall far below inflation. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Dundee University bosses quit after damning report into financial collapse
A report into Dundee University says its financial crisis was caused by a
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Alun Thomas @alunrthomas.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
I was Chair of my union branch when my university made 10% cuts in staffing and it was extremely tough. I don't have any special insight into how the sector is faring, but what I keep thinking is: in c. 10 years the press/business/civil service are going to ask for an expert in x or y... 1/2
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Alun Thomas @alunrthomas.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
...and universities will say: we don't have an expert in x or y because the postdoc who was going to be that expert was let go 10 years ago. Other countries don't have the structures to foster hugely diverse homegrown academic expertise. We are squandering our inheritance. 2/2
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Alun Thomas @alunrthomas.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
*not all other countries. Plenty do.
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Prey do tell, how is all that slashing of Professional Service colleagues going, @durham-university.bsky.social? This is why 'efficiency' never is effective in the real world. If you cut your staffing to well below the bone, there's no flex to catch mistakes on time. #SaveHE
palatinate.org.uk
Exams interrupted by incorrect papers, missing data booklets, and typos across the university  - Palatinate
Students have been sent the wrong exam papers and additional resources have been missing as multiple departments have made errors in examinations this year.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
'“Serious investment” is needed in UK universities to help them adapt for lifelong learning, as new research shows half of employers plan to increase training budgets in the coming years – but universities are “not the first choice” for provision.' 1/2
timeshighereducation.com
Half of employers look to foreign universities for training needs
Fierce competition to provide lifelong learning means UK universities require significant investment and national strategy, report finds
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
With respect, some of us (the great majority of academics I work with and all the learned societies I've every worked with) never gave up on collegiality as a core value and practice. Link to UUK report: www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/c...
universitiesuk.ac.uk
Bold reform needed to transform universities facing critical financial pressures
University leaders need to embrace – and lead – change in the way they operate, according to a report from our taskforce.
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Sarah May @sarahmay1.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
30% living at home, more than 50% of the most disadvantaged. When 'regional universities' start to shutter, or now, when they reduce the range of courses, it will exclude those students from higher education. The government knows this, and still they do nothing
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
The United Kingdom simply does not possess the governance capacity to allow universities to fail - it is unimaginable. Yet here we are.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Now emancipated from its paywall. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
researchprofessionalnews.com
To save UK higher education, start talking about knowledge - Research Professional News
Until debate on universities foregrounds their core purposes, their woes will deepen, says Margot Finn
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Here's the headline university job losses this year so far - they add up to 3,111 jobs. In reality there have been far more, because a lot of posts are closed with no fanfare at all. they are just the jobs that are being most brutally culled. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-univ...
timeshighereducation.com
UK university redundancies: latest updates
As higher education institutions shed thousands of jobs, we track developments and bring together latest analysis with resources for affected staff and students
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Kate Davison @queerstorian.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
This is what the redundancy wave in British Higher Education currently looks like on the map: ‘British University Redundancy Map’ maps.app.goo.gl/yUteDm2MCXUi...
maps.app.goo.gl
British University Redundancy Map - Google My Maps
Mapping redundancies from 2023
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Louise, Prof/Dr @louiselocock.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Very true. And it's a sector with high economic benefits. Universities UK report an economic impact of £158bn, or £265bn including the impact of international students. Every £1 of public money invested into UK universities generates £14 of economic benefit. www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/latest/news/...
universitiesuk.ac.uk
New report reveals key role universities play in boosting growth and productivity across the UK
The higher education sector contributes more than £265 billion to the UK economy.
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
The UK government is proposing to finally finish off its universities by further tightening the terms of the graduate visa route. The stupid fools. Playing with dangers they don't even understand. www.ft.com/content/f441...
ft.com
UK Home Office’s reform of graduate visas runs into opposition
[FREE TO READ] Education department at odds with plan to curb number of overseas students allowed to stay in Britain
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Richard Budd @ddubdrahcir.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Three entirely cost-free interventions that would save time and resources that HEIs currently can't afford: 1. Reinstate number controls 2. Cancel REF 3. Loosen visa restrictions Can't see the RG supporting 1 and 2 as core sources of their current dominance. And yes, we need a major rethink.
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Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · 24/03/2025
The government acts like universities are a financial burden on taxpayers, when the reality is that they are a massive boost to the economy (every £1 spent generates £5). That’s quite aside from the huge benefit to the nation‘s cultural and civic life & of scientific research.
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
If you're being approached by SOAS to do marking, be aware that the SOAS tutors are on a marking boycott & you're being asked to scab mark (managers don't feel they should be transparent about it) hardship fund: gofund.me/71598ef7&sa=... template motion: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
gofund.me
GoFundMe | The #1 Crowdfunding and Fundraising Platform
Start your fundraiser in minutes with tools to help you succeed. GoFundMe is the global leader in crowdfunding, trusted by 100+ million people.
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will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Just signed this and would encourage everyone to do so, whether staff, students, alumni, or just concerned citizens H/t Bristol UCU, tho I think they aren’t here yet. docs.google.com/document/d/e...
docs.google.com
Open Letter: Save Higher Education – A Call for Urgent Action Higher Education is in Crisis
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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Spending my Friday night analysing Cardiff University’s EDI data in relation to which categories of staff have been placed “at risk of redundancy”, because the HR department seems to have forgotten to do so. #LivingTheDream #BasicDueDilligence #RStats #11pm #UnpaidOvertime
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leedsucu.bsky.social @leedsucu.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
We’ve just added a further tranche of @ucu.org.uk branches to our UCU branches and regions starter pack - see here 👇
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