A mass rally of hundreds of people has been held at the Senedd to protest against proposed Cardiff University cuts. The proposal would see a potential loss of 400 jobs and the closure of entire academic schools.
Cardiff University has a projected £28m deficit this financial year amid a collective £70m deficits for Welsh universities. The protest coincides with the first Welsh draft budget debate which will take place later in the afternoon. The debate, and any result, is not binding.. The University and College Union said wants "Welsh Government to properly fund further education and intervene to save universities in Wales".
University staff were joined by members of school teaching unions from across Wales as well as the Royal College of Nursing. The Welsh Government has indicated it will not give universities any more cash.
The crisis may lead to further university strikes this term after students and institutions have already been hit by walkouts over pay and pensions in recent years. Cardiff University UCU members at to be balloted on strike action in opposition to the planned cuts with a mass walkout and marking boycott likely this term. You can get more story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Students and staff who are impacted spoke at the event with students expressing their fears over what will come of their courses, while staff spoke of their shock at the way the announcement emerged and said strike action remains a possibility.
Deio Owen, NUS president for Wales, was asked whether students and the NUS would support lecturers if they went on strike. "Striking is not the preferred option obviously but it is a way for unions to show their discontent. We want to see that students are not affected. We would support a strike if absolutely necessary," he said.
Thanasi Hassousas, a reader and associate professor in medical education at Cardiff Unicersity medical school said he and all academic staff in the medical school have had letters of proposed redundancy and staff are "angry and worried". "It could have been handled better, it was a dereliction of duty to students and staff. Losing the nursing school would have implications beyond the university," he said.
Read updates from the rally below:
Education Minister Lynne Neagle met with Cardiff University Vice Chancellor Professor Wendy Larner last Friday, First Minister Eluned Morgan has told AMs this afternoon. Describing Cardiff University as the "jewel in the crown" the First Minister said there are a number of things that have impacted the university including Brexit and changes to funding.
Education minister Lynne Neagle met with the university's vice chancellor, Wendy Larner, on Friday, the First Minister says, saying that Cardiff is the "jewel in the crown".
She says there are a number of things that have impacted the university including Brexit and changing rules and funding.
The protest at the Senedd is starting to wind down. First Minister's Questions are happening inside the Senedd, and it would be surprising if there was no mention of the issue there.
A lecturer in the school of healthcare, Mike Johnson, said there was concern that the news about the proposed cuts will deter applications further.
Staff will start dwindling away and students won't come. The capacity to attract the highest quality doctors and nurses is the future is affected.
Thanasi Hassousas, a reader and associate professor in medical education at Cardiff Unicersity medical school said he and all academic staff in the medical school have had letters of proposed redundancy.
He said staff are angry and worried about their jobs and the effect on students and said the proposed cuts were badly communicated.
"It could have been handled better , it was a dereliction of duty to students and staff. Losing the nursing school would have implications beyond the university," he said.
Deio Owen, NUS president for Wales, was asked whether students and the NUS would support lecturers if they went on strike.
Striking is not the preferred option obviously but it is a way for unions to show their discontent. We want to see that students are not affected. We would support a strike if absolutely necessary.
He also said it was "uneblievable" the Welsh Government didn't know about the cuts until a week before they were made public and if that was the case it was "concerning". He then added that the cuts are about long-term sustainability of universities but said now people applying are going to wonder what their will look like when it finishes.
Gareth Lloyd, the UCU representative for Wales, said
The far right are targeting ou r young people and these cuts are taking away hope and driving them into the arms of the far right. This is very short sighted. We're calling on Welsh Government to give the money to universities, to get the money from Westminster and pass that down.
These cuts are devastating, we're shocked that the very active UCU branch at Cardiff University didn't know about this until the last minute.
The axe has fallen on my school and the humanities. I work in the school of history, religion and archaeology. Higher education is transformative and it really makes a difference to communities. If we want to address social cohesion and challenges we should not be making these cuts. I feel angry and sorry for students who won't have the opportunities now that they did have.
The mood amongst staff is one of anger, disbelief and incredible upset, amongst me and my colleagues as well.
We all work very hard and we are committed. In my years working here it isn't the first time I have faced redundancy but if the political will is there I think we can do this without this level of cuts. I would be willing to strike and my message to students is, you are our future, we are angry and sad for you.
The university's proposals include nursing, modern languages, music, ancient history, translation, religion and theology departments will close, after a 90-day consultation period.
Archaeology and ancient history third year student Sioned Birchall said: "We are here because we want Welsh Government to put pressure on the Vice Chancellor not to make these cuts. Our message is to fund education . The subjects under threat are important," she said.
A number of students are saying that the possibility of their lecturers and university staff going on strike is a huge worry to them.
The UCU has already said it will now ballot Cardiff University branch members on whether they are in favour of strike action and/or action short of strike including a marking boycott. That ballot would need to reach a 50% threshold in order to go through. If it does notice of strike would then go ahead and action follow within the 90-day consultation period the university has announced, which ends in early May.
In the most recent nationwide strike in 2023 some 70,000 university staff, including those at Cardiff and Swansea universities, joined a mass walkout in an ultimately failed protest over pay with 18 days of strike action from February to March that year . That strike affected 2.5m students.
Representatives from the Royal College of Nursing are among those at the Senedd. In a post on Facebook, the organisation says losing nursing would be "huge".
"Cardiff University's proposal to cut its nursing degree programme would be a huge loss to the future of nursing and the NHS."
A second year nursing student, called Katherine, said:
I am in my second year at the Cardiff University School of nursing . I'm terrified for what it means for my degree for fellow students and future patients if there are not enough nurses.
We have had no official reassurance from the university about what the cuts mean for our degrees.
A number of different groups are coming together on the steps of the Senedd on what is a cold and blustery Tuesday. There are representatives from the UCU, and Royal College of Nursing, as well as students.
Third year nursing student Beca Edwards said students are worried about the effect the news will have on marking and graduation of industrial action is taken. She said nursing students are anxious and distressed.
NAHT Cymru will join the UCU and other teaching unions for the rally on the steps of the Senedd to highlights the pressures affecting school funding. Schools, like universities, are posting deficits.
The NAHT said it has made multiple Freedom of Information requests to obtain details of what extra, ‘consequential’ funding Welsh schools will receive on the back of increased education spending in England, but neither the Welsh Government and UK Treasury have been able to provide this data. This lack of transparency is deeply concerning.
Laura Doel, national secretary of NAHT Cymru, said: “Schools in Wales lack the sustainable, equitable investment they need just to do the basics, let alone meet education reform demands.
"Sticking plasters and short-term fixes are no longer sufficient. Schools are contemplating deficit budgets, cutting pupil spending, and making staff redundant.”
NUS Wales President Deio Owen said students are being "exploited" to keep the higher education system afloat amid a dire lack of funding.
"This systemic underfunding has created a higher education system reliant on the exploitation of workers and the exploitation of students, especially our international students, who keep this system afloat," he said.
"We are working jobs while studying not for pocket money but because the grants and loans are not enough to even cover the basic essentials. Because year after year, just like university funding, student support is falling behind."
Graduations and work mayl be disrupted by industrial action if cuts go ahead, the university union UCU has warned. Dr Andy Williams, Cardiff UCU Media Spokesperson said the message from the Welsh Government that there is no more cash for universities is "no comfort" for affected staff and students and called on Cardiff to use its reserves to cushion its proposed cuts and avert strikes.
He said he said thousands of Cardiff University staff were served with 'at risk of redundancy' emails last week and thousands of students have been "plunged into uncertainty by these cruel cuts". Dr Williams re-iterated the threat of industrial action as he called on the Welsh Government to intervene.
"Despite Welsh Government inaction into this crisis so far, we will continue to push for political solutions to the crisis in higher education from both the Welsh and UK Governments.
"We will also continue to argue that Cardiff University draw on the £188m of its reserves which it can access in order to fund a longer, more cautious, and sustainable recovery which doesn't destroy the lives of its staff.
"In case it won't listen, we are balloting our members on strike action and action short of a strike, including a marking boycott which would disrupt graduations. This would be a last resort, but something we have to consider in defence of our jobs."
Cardiff University staff protesting against proposed cuts at the Senedd today will be joined by unions from around Wales. Hundreds of people are expected at the UCU rally outside the Senedd building including members of the following unions: Royal College of Nursing, Unite, Unison, NEU and the NAHT and TUC Wales.
The RCN has warned against Cardiff University's proposed closure of its respected school of nursing at a time when Wales is short of nurses.
The union representing university staff in Wales fears compulsory redundancies and more department closures are on the cards with "every university in serious trouble" . The UCU warned compulsory job cuts are a "red line" and industrial action may follow.
The Cardiff University branch of the UCU has already announced it will ballot its members on possible action over the proposed closures there. Ahead of today's rally UCU Wales official Gareth Lloyd said all universities were under financial strain, although none in Wales has yet suggested cuts on the scale if Cardiff.
""Unless more money is found we have real concerns there will be more cuts in terms of compulsory redundancies and cutting courses. Every university is in serious trouble and the funding formula is broken," Mr Lloyd said.
"We are working in collaboration with universities and have real concerns that unless more money is found there will be compulsory redundancies. Our bottom line is where our branches want industrial action we will support them."
An MS has launched an extraordinary attack on the Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University in the wake of the widespread proposed cuts. Caerphilly MS and former university lecturer Hefin David said professor Wendy Larner had "behaved appallingly" and "shown utter disregard for her staff and students".
Before being elected to the Senedd, Hefin was a senior lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He taught Human Resource Management and Professional Practice to undergraduates and postgraduadnts.
Writing on Twitter he said: "Speaking only as a former senior lecturer & a current member of @ucu , Wendy Larner has behaved appallingly as VC of @cardiffuni . She’s shown utter disregard for her staff & students. This isn’t leadership, it’s autocracy. I really hope that other VCs will learn from her mistakes."
Speaking only as a former senior lecturer & a current member of @ucu, Wendy Larner has behaved appallingly as VC of @cardiffuni. She’s shown utter disregard for her staff & students. This isn’t leadership, it’s autocracy. I really hope that other VCs will learn from her mistakes.
— Dr Hefin David MS/AS (@hef4caerphilly) January 31, 2025
Announcing the suggested cuts last week Prof Larner said there was little choice but to change how the university operates in the face of financial pressures affecting Cardiff and many other institutions. She said: “The precarious financial position of many universities, particularly in the context of declining international student applications and increasing cost pressures, and the need to adapt to survive are well-documented. We know here at Cardiff University that it is no longer an option for us to continue as we are.”
Asked to respond to pleas for more cash from universities the Welsh Government said they'll already get nearly £22m more next year. Universities Wales, which represents the eight insituitions, has warned there's an "urgent" need for more cash from Cardiff Bay as they face an expected £70m deficit collectively.
Responding to that plea a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are working closely with UK Government to ensure we contribute to their plans for HE reform, and ensure any outcomes are relevant to the needs of Wales.
“Higher education funding in Wales compares favourably with other nations of the UK. We provided an extra £10m in grant funding this year and increased the tuition fee limit, which will provide up to £21.9m in additional income to universities next year.”
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