Hundreds of people are expected to gather at a rally outside the Senedd opposing sweeping proposed cuts across Cardiff University including the loss of 400 academic posts and the closure of academic schools and degrees. The University and College Union (UCU) said its members will be joined by student body NUS Wales, the National Education Union, Unison, Cardiff University staff not in the union, and others at the protest on February 4.

The rally coincides with the first Welsh draft budget debate and the UCU will use the occasion to "demand that Welsh Government to properly fund further education and intervene to save universities in Wales". Meanwhile UCU members are to be balloted on strike action in opposition to the proposed cuts with a mass walkout and marking boycott likely this term. You can read more about that here.

The union said thousands of Cardiff University staff have been issued with letters warning their jobs are at risk since the "shellshock" announcement on Tuesday. Cardiff University vice-chancellor Professor Wendy Larner said the institution must become smaller to survive financial pressure but the UCU insists there are other options. You can get more story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.

In a statement announcing the rally the Cardiff University UCU branch said: “Cardiff University senior management announced cuts to departments and degree programmes on a scale that is unprecedented in UK higher education. We condemn the plans as cruel and unnecessary and will ballot for strike action to fight compulsory redundancies tooth and nail.

"We will also ballot for action short of a strike, which includes the option of a hugely disruptive marking and assessment boycott. We won’t advocate for this lightly but it’s something we will consider.

“From 11am on January 28 staff were invited to a series of briefings in which the alarming scale and depth of the proposed restructure was outlined to them. Many were left shellshocked and in tears, fearing for their jobs, their students, and the future of what managers intend to be a radically-altered university.

“The announcements were wide-ranging but included plans to cut entire departments and programmes. Nursing, modern languages, religion and theology, music, and ancient history were all named. The axe will be taken to 400 staff, 7% of the academic workforce, with the promise of further, possibly bigger, cuts to professional services administrative staff later in the year.

"Thousands of colleagues were sent ‘at risk of redundancy’ emails and for the next three months they’ll live in fear of their jobs in a climate of deep uncertainty. Senior managers insist that these devastating cuts are needed to balance the books but Cardiff UCU’s independent expert financial analysis suggests otherwise.

"At the rootof the cuts is a self-imposed plan to chase a 12% surplus on the budget. This would make sense if the university were a business with the need to pay dividends to shareholders. It would also make sense if the institution had very low reserves, which is also not the case – Cardiff is currently sitting on £188m in cash reserves.

"As a union branch we recognise there are problems with Cardiff’s finances and the funding of UK higher education more broadly. But these cuts are avoidable and we will continue to promote a more cautious action plan aimed at a more gradual recovery.”

Cardiff UCU President Dr Joey Whitfield, a member of staff in the threatened school of modern languages, said: “Like all of our colleagues I’m absolutely shellshocked. The cuts are cruel and avoidable."

He said the UCU was ready for constructive discussions "but there’s been little appetite for real dialogue from the university executive board so far" . The UCU has urged students to support their campaign saying their degrees will be affected too.

The UCU says the Welsh Government should use its 2025-26 budget to stabilise the university sector, which is under pressure across Wales as well as the rest of the UK. Universities have been hit by a inflationary pressure, largely stagnant tuition fees, and a fall in higher-paying international students who were a key part of their funding model in recent years.

Dyfrig Jones of Bangor University UCU said: "Higher education is facing its biggest crisis in living memory and we urgently need government to step in to save the sector. University staff across the UK are faced with threats to their jobs, unsustainable workloads, and insecure contracts.

"We know that the Westminster government is undertaking a review of HE finances but there’s a real chance that some universities will have gone bust before this work has been finished. Here in Wales we need the Welsh Government to put aside enough money to ensure that we can weather the storm as a matter of priority."