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Aberdeen University Still In Financial Trouble

8th July 2025

The University of Aberdeen is implementing further job cuts as part of a cost-saving plan to address a £5.5 million budget gap. This follows previous measures like voluntary redundancies, recruitment freezes, and paused promotions.

The university will offer voluntary severance and enhanced retirement options in five schools: Business, Geosciences, Language Literature Music and Visual Culture, Natural and Computing Sciences, and Social Sciences. The university aims to create a more "student demand-led" range of programs.

Aberdeen University is facing significant financial challenges and has been taking steps to reduce costs, including staff-related measures:

Voluntary Severance & Early Retirement The university has set aside £10 million for another round of voluntary severance and early retirements to help address a projected £13.8 million financial gap in the 2025/26 academic year.

Recruitment Freeze & Promotion Pauses They've paused most staff recruitment and frozen promotions, aiming to curb rising costs driven by inflation, National Insurance increases, and pay awards.

Restructuring & Efficiency Measures Aberdeen is exploring restructuring options, including merging student services and support, optimizing student accommodation, and reviewing catering functions. There's also talk of sharing professional services across departments.

Impact on Jobs Up to 70 jobs could be at risk if the university doesn't raise enough revenue to offset its deficit. Five schools have been selected for voluntary severance, and the university hopes to avoid compulsory redundancies.

Union Response The University and College Union (UCU) has pushed back against compulsory redundancies and is working with management to find alternative savings. Staff have also announced plans to ballot over job cuts.

How will staff cuts impact students and services?
Impact on Students and Academic Quality Staff reductions at Aberdeen University are already raising concerns about the quality of education:

Fewer lecturers could mean larger class sizes, less personalized instruction, and reduced feedback.

Some courses with low enrollment are being discontinued, limiting student choice and academic diversity2.

The university is shifting toward a "student demand-led" portfolio, which may prioritize popular subjects over niche or specialist areas.

Student Support Services at Risk Cuts could affect wellbeing services, academic advising, and career support:

The Students' Association warns that job losses will reduce access to mental health and pastoral care, especially if student services are merged or downsized.

Staff morale is reportedly low, which can trickle down to student experience and engagement.

Campus Life and Community The restructuring may reshape the university's culture:

Students have already protested previous cuts, fearing a loss of community and academic identity, especially in departments like modern languages.

The university is reviewing catering and accommodation functions, which could alter daily campus life.

Long-Term Consequences There's concern that these measures could:

Undermine Aberdeen's reputation and league table rankings, which rely on student satisfaction and research output.

Make Scottish universities more reliant on volatile international tuition fees, risking future instability.

University Redundancies and Course Closures

UK universities have announced thousands of job cuts in 2025 alone, including:

University of Dundee: Initially proposed 632 redundancies, later reduced to 300.

University of Edinburgh: 350 jobs cut

University of Sheffield: 400 redundancies

These cuts often coincide with course closures, increased class sizes, and reduced module options for students.

Impact on Vulnerable Students

Cuts to pastoral and SEND support staff have disproportionately affected children with special educational needs.

Schools are struggling to maintain teaching assistants, especially those funded by Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

Real Voices from the Sector

A university library supervisor shared that their team was reduced from three to one, saying: "Morale has never been lower... The students are bound to suffer."

These examples show that staff cuts don’t just affect payroll—they ripple through every layer of the educational experience.