UCLan to axe more than 160 staff due to financial challenges facing the higher education sector

Today, the largest university in Lancashire, UCLan, announced that “due to the unprecedented financial challenge facing the entire higher education sector”, they are “taking decisive action now to reduce its costs and reshape the way it delivers world-leading education and research”.

In a statement issued to the press, UCLan said that although the institution contributes more than £200 million to the North West economy every year, it has not been immune to declines in international student recruitment following Government changes to visa requirements and the UK tuition fee being frozen for a decade, with rampant inflation eroding its real value.

To be fit for the future, the university says it is now in the process of reviewing its costs for the academic year 2024/25 to ensure expenditure is in line with income and regrettably, part of the review requires the University of Central Lancashire to reduce the amount of people it employs by around 5% to deliver a sustainable budgetary position for the future.

The university is a major employer in the region and currently spends 60% of its income on a staff community made up of around 3,300 people.

How will UCLan reduce staffing levels?

The university has launched a voluntary redundancy scheme today (Monday, April 8) and is asking for expressions of interest from its academic and professional services employees.

How many people will be made redundant?

If UCLan has a staff body of around 3,300 people, a five per cent reduction would mean the loss of 165 jobs.

What has the university said about the reduction?

Vice-Chancellor of UCLan, Professor Graham Baldwin, said: “At a time when income is static and our expenditure is growing, we need to start reducing our costs as well as balancing developing areas of growth and investing in areas that attract students to study with us.

“Whilst it is important that we reduce our costs and our staff base over the coming months, it is also important to remember that we remain a strong performing university delivering quality teaching to thousands of students.  We remain a large employer in the region but we must embrace change by thinking and delivering differently.”

Professor Graham Baldwin added: “The Higher Education sector is facing unprecedented financial challenges and we need to proactively respond in order to be more agile and able to deal with the pace of change impacting the sector today and into the future. We know this is a concerning time for our staff and we have support systems in place during this difficult time. As ever our continued priority is our students and giving them a great university experience.”