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UK HE News

@ukhenews.bsky.social
792 followers 148 following 608 posts

Watching the slow-motion suicide of UK universities evolve into its next phase: fast-motion suicide.

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Natalia Cecire @ncecire.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
70% turnout, in case you were wondering whether we have an engaged membership ✌️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
University of Sussex staff vote in favour of strike over job cuts
Member of the UCU union back a strike over proposals to cut 200 jobs at the University of Sussex.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Flew too close to the sun!
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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
It says a lot about which academic stories get media coverage that multiple non-academics I know asked me about the Jason Arday story, but no one I know outside of the academy had heard about the University of Minnesota paying $250,000 for rescinding a job offer to Raz Segal due to donor pressure.
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Leanne Calvert @leannecalvert.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Such a waste. Thinking of my friends & colleagues in History & across Hums. UH History is where I really learned *how* to teach & how to drive my teaching with my research. A dept that really cared about their students. So many brilliant & talented people in my old dept.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
This is also the dream scenario of every UK HE VC.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
UK HE's final form!
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
'Academics fear they are being “set up to fail” after several institutions finished the academic year by announcing fresh job cuts, casting doubt over who will return after the summer break, and what courses they will be teaching.' 1/3
timeshighereducation.com
Summer of ‘chaos’ predicted as mass job cuts close academic year
‘Impossible to plan’ for research and teaching, say staff, as threat of redundancy looms large over summer breaks
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Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Wow. Simultaneously being put at risk of redundancy and my new modules being abolished, while also being asked to put forward those same modules for TEF and Accessibility case studies. The sheer nerve.
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Northumbria UCU Branch @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
So, @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social did a survey: www.ucu-unn.org.uk/news/335-str... @ucu.org.uk @uculeft.bsky.social @ucucommons.org @tuc.org.uk @tucneyh.bsky.social @hsegovuk.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social @21group.bsky.social @ukhenews.bsky.social @ucea.bsky.social @wonkhe.bsky.social
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UCU Hallam @ucuhallam.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
The VC is responsible for SHU’s strategic vision and finances: profiles.shu.ac.uk/9998-liz-mos... Our members have questions about that vision: ucuhallam.org/sheffield-ha... #SaveSheffieldHallam @timeshighered.bsky.social sky.social @ukhenews.bsky.social sky.social @thestar.co.uk k @ucu.org.uk
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
The moment Smith was put in charge of HE, you knew the wind down of the sector was inevitable.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
If your average VC were either (1) completely incompetent, but meant well and believed in the purpose of universities, or (2) they were completely corrupt but very clever at navigating economic and political realities, UK HE would probably still be doing ok. Sadly neither is the case.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Classic UK HE understatement.
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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
WANTED -- those who brought Nottingham University to its present sad state Financial problems arose from decisions under previous VC Shearer West Those responsible have moved on, leaving current staff to deal with consequences of mismanagement 21percent.org?p=3647
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Ali @meltedliso.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
The modern UK university is a witches brew of catering, events, accommodation and property, with a small side serving of education and research. Oh, and AI for everyone. I'm sure that'll all work out fine in the long term 😱
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
If your average VC were either (1) completely incompetent, but meant well and believed in the purpose of universities, or (2) they were completely corrupt but very clever at navigating economic and political realities, UK HE would probably still be doing ok. Sadly neither is the case.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Don't worry everyone, UUK has a plan: what if we marketed universities as places to get skills for employability!?
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
UUK was corrupt in the way they used international recruitment as a cynical cash grab. But they were incompetent in the way they did absolutely nothing to prepare for the inevitable political backlash.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Correct. From that day forward UK academics had as much "academic freedom" as anyone in any role. That probably wasn't so bad until the unis became cash-chasing jokes that judged academics on how many customers they could recruit.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Yeah, pretty much.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
it's shocking that wealthy alumni do not want to fun the further destruction of their universities.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
The latest WonkHE propaganda, decrypted: The Essex VC and cronies looted and pillaged a university for personal gain for over a decade, compulsively lying the entire time to council members like this one. Then he retired a multimillionaire. t.co/7ENKQvktQE
t.co
https://wonkhe.com/blogs/something-fierce-what-essex-tells-us-about-the-fate-of-the-plate-glass-universities/
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
The latest WonkHE propaganda, decrypted: The Essex VC and cronies looted and pillaged a university for personal gain for over a decade, compulsively lying the entire time to council members like this one. Then he retired a multimillionaire. t.co/7ENKQvktQE
t.co
https://wonkhe.com/blogs/something-fierce-what-essex-tells-us-about-the-fate-of-the-plate-glass-universities/
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Reposted by UK HE News
21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Genuinely hard to say who’s done more damage to UK universities Russell Group or UniversitiesUK Impressive work, either way😉 www.ft.com/content/bc2d...
ft.com
Russell Group chief calls on wealthy alumni to help UK universities
Business should contribute more to help plug the funding gap, says Tim Bradshaw
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Vice Chancellors
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Mother of God. We've reached peak UK HE.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
The same system that WonkHE had worked to uphold, you mean.
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Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Comment: Research funding cuts threaten a whole generation of scientists UK will suffer lasting consequences from disrupted talent pipeline, say Mike Lockwood and James Wild, president and president-elect of @royalastrosoc.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
researchprofessionalnews.com
Research funding cuts threaten a whole generation of scientists - Research Professional News
UK will suffer lasting consequences from disrupted talent pipeline, say Mike Lockwood and James Wild
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Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I have a 'History Department in UKHE' joke but it's been reduced from 250 characters to 50 and is now merged with jokes from across ten other largely-unrelated disciplines while still being expected to be Just As Funny.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Besides some superficial "free speech" stuff; there will be a doubling down on employability, which will of course further reduce employability. Meanwhile Reform will try to shut down most unis regardless, speed running the same "university isn't worth it, learn a trade" trend already taking hold.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Goodwin always loses, but never goes away.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Populists want to destroy universities, so one could argue UK HE management is in fact doing this preemptively.
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UCU Essex @ucuessex.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Compulsory redundancies, 400 job losses, a campus closed. The justification has always been: we have 2612 staff. This is the number the VC has used repeatedly to justify this unprecedented attack on our jobs. But the latest financial figures from the uni say that we actually only have 2273...?
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
The only real difference between a cynical immoral VC and a 'good' one is whether they feel bad about the consequences of their actions. They both face the same overwhelming structural incentives, which create a trajectory toward financial instability and academic mediocrity.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
What is a 'number' anyway? If you think abour it... 🤔 Point is we're firing a bunch of you and forcing the rest to seriously consider resigning in disgust over our corruption and incompetence.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
'The surging number of redundancies in UK higher education could undermine entire research fields as networks of collaborators disappear, according to an academic whose project fell through when a colleague’s job at another institution was put at risk.' 1/2
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Jesus. We knew we weren't exactly sending our best when our Faculty Dean moved to become your VC, but even we are astonished at the levels of incompetence.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
How universities are increasingly viewed in a country that still has a substantial graduate premium. www.facebook.com/share/r/1B84...
facebook.com
Redirecting...
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
"consultation" has become void of meaning in #UKHE. If you're not actually engaging with the content it isn't really input, it's just a number in an inbox. Like this slide exactly shows. Absurd how @universityofessex.bsky.social thinks this is justifying not damning.
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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Strathclyde University has a ~£35m deficit Over 100 staff earn > £100k. Vice Chancellor gets package > £400k 6-figure salary group alone represents ~ 40% of deficit Strathclyde's answer isn’t trimming at the top, it’s cutting jobs lower down news.stv.tv/west-central...
news.stv.tv
Hundreds of university staff to begin week-long strike over proposed job cuts
In December, it was revealed that the university is proposing to cut 76 posts in a bid to bridge a £35m funding gap
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UCU Essex @ucuessex.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
We've heard from @bayoalaba.bsky.social that VC Frances Bowen is *still* not communicating with the Southend MPs or Southend Council. We continue to be incredibly disappointed by this - especially as she seems to be able to find time to speak to the BBC to justify the cuts!
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UCU Essex @ucuessex.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
In yet more shocking news: the University forgot to give us our pay uplift for this year (which they had already unilaterally deferred to February). Hundreds of staff have applied for voluntary redundancy, and had their redundancy pay confirmed based on their salary. What does this mean for them?
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
There needs to be a review of UUK
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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
UniversitiesUK is lobbying group for Vice-Chancellors, not staff or students It's consistently lobbied for higher tuition fees & marketisation It's supported bureaucratic corporatisation & excessive VC pay -- but never staff It's grown fat on University money universitiesuk.ac.uk/about-us/peo...
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
HE contractors are corrupt across the board, just like HE senior managers. Their 'shadow economy' is rapidly falling apart but they all are walking away with vast amounts of Ill-gotten wealth and zero consequences.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Oh they are concerned about the research talent pipeline?
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Northumbria UCU Branch @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
@georgeclarke.bsky.social @andylong6.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social @theguardian.com @danhollandnews.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk @moneyontheleft.bsky.social @financialtimes.com @ukhenews.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @unison.org.uk
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
The budget always has room for private contractors.
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Wow, Essex is getting some big news coverage! Promote that marketing team!
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UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Oh goody!
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