‘Not changing is not an option’: Goldsmiths announce transformation plans amidst funding struggles

Goldsmiths University has announced a “transformation plan” to save £20million due to a financial shortfall from falling student numbers.

The programme – led by the governing council and the senior management team at the New Cross-based university – sets out three aims, including lowering operating expenses by £20million, renewing policy and enhancing learning and student experience.

The programme will be implemented during the remainder of this academic year 2023-24, in order to establish a new foundation from next year.

The action comes after Goldsmiths forecasted a tuition fee shortfall of £13.1million compared to its budget this year, due to lower-than-expected student recruitment. 

The university says the shortfall is a result of an increasingly competitive market with other universities, including Russell Group institutions lowering entry grades to attract more students, as well as its own inconsistent approaches to recruitment – which the university says has since been addressed.

As part of the plan to save funds, Goldsmiths is currently considering plans to cut 132 jobs – 17 per cent of the 769 academic roles at the university.

The redundancies affect staff across 11 departments including English and creative writing, history, music, politics and international relations and theatre and performance.The consultation began on March 19, and is anticipated to run for a minimum of 45 days.

The redundancies sparked industrial action led by members of the University and College Union (UCU) who began a boycott on marking duties on April 19.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “We warned Goldsmiths that we will not allow it to bulldoze brutal cuts of this scale through, but despite our overwhelming vote for industrial action management has refused to listen.”

The 130-year-old university is also struggling as a result of Government funding and immigration policies.

Goldsmiths is renowned for its creative arts and humanities with graduates including the film director Steve McQueen and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.

But creative institutions across the country have seen a drop in Government funding. At the start of this month, Goldsmith’s central funding was frozen by the Government – a cut in real terms due to inflation.

This follows a series of what the university describes as “hostile policy decisions”, which have caused financial pressures for universities across the UK.

Recent analysis by Universities UK – the group which represents the sector – reported that 40 per cent of institutions are likely to be in deficit this academic year.

One key issue is undergraduate tuition fees. Compared to 2012 when fees of £9,000 were introduced, these are now worth £6,000 in today’s prices due to the impact of inflation, according to Universities UK. Fees were raised to £9,250 in 2017, but have remained at this level since then.

Government policy towards international students, including ending the right to bring family members to the UK, has also caused a drop in student recruitment levels, Goldsmiths said.

A spokesman from Goldsmiths University said: “Challenging decisions are having to be taken by the College’s leaders and it is understandable that many in our community find this upsetting.

“However, not changing is sadly not an option and we must take these measures now to safeguard the institution’s future.

“We will continue to work hard to ensure that job losses are kept to a minimum and to protect arts and humanities subjects in the best way we can.”

A spokesman from the Department of Education said: “It’s vital we have a sustainable student finance system that is fair to students and taxpayers. We’ve taken action to protect students from high costs by freezing tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years.

“We continue to provide significant financial support of nearly £6billion per year to the higher education sector, plus more than £10 billion per year in tuition fee loans. The Office for Students’ latest report also stated that the overall financial position of the sector was sound.”

Pictured top: Goldsmiths University (Picture: Wikimedia Commons)