Dozens of Sunderland university staff facing redundancy as sector hit by 'considerable funding challenges'

The University of Sunderland could lose 76 staff, including more than one in 10 (60 out of 549) academics, says the University and College Union (UCU).

University bosses have said the Higher Education sector in the UK is 'facing considerable funding challenges' and has been 'critically assessing our expenditure' since the start of the year. The university says a freeze on home student fees and a decline in international student admissions are causing issues across the sector.

A spokesperson for the University of Sunderland said: "As has been well documented, the Higher Education sector in the UK is facing considerable funding challenges. The freeze on home student fees, which have not risen in line with inflation, coupled with a decline in international student admissions, means that many institutions have been forced to make difficult decisions in recent months.

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“Unfortunately, the University of Sunderland is not immune to these challenges. Since the start of the year, we have been critically assessing our expenditure to ensure we’re operating as efficiently as possible, while still maintaining an excellent student experience.

“Although we have done everything possible to mitigate job losses, a number of roles are impacted. We’re working closely with those affected to support them through the process.”

The union says cuts also impact professional services staff and will fall across the university. The UCU says some staff could lose their jobs as soon as Friday, November 1, meaning they would be unemployed going into Christmas.

The union added: "This is the second formal notification of redundancies in under six months. In neither this, nor the previous notification, were any management jobs put at risk."

UCU regional support official Jon Bryan said: "The academic year has just started yet staff have returned to campus to learn they could be made redundant before Christmas. Cuts of this scale would severely damage student learning and harm the university's standing.

"We will now seek our members' views on how we fight back against these cuts, and the university could face a strike ballot unless it changes course and works with us to protect jobs."

The university has celebrated a number of accolades recently, including being shortlisted for the Times Higher Education University of the Year, as well as becoming a top 40 university for the first time ever in The Guardian's latest league rankings.

The UCU said it will fight the jobs cuts, which they said will threaten to damage student provision and tarnish the university’s reputation.