Cardiff University cuts “will make Wales’ poor Higher Education participation rate even worse”

Martin Shipton

Cardiff University’s “brutal cuts”, under which 400 jobs are planned to go and five Schools including Nursing and Music shut down,will fuel an already-serious crisis of participation in Welsh Higher Education, it has been claimed.

The university’s branch of the University and College Union (UCU) has also questioned the decision of Further and Higher Education Minister Vikki Howells to drop a planned update to the Senedd on young people’s participation in education.

Vice Chancellor Prof Wendy Larner’s plans for a post-cuts Cardiff University include raising tariffs to offer fewer spaces to UK “home” students and further prioritising attracting high fee-paying international students in order to become a smaller, more elite institution with what it calls “higher quality cohorts” of students.

Participation crisis

This comes as Welsh politicians grapple with a participation crisis in higher education. Currently only 33% of Wales’ young people go to university, the lowest rate in the UK. In London, the figure is 49% and in Northern Ireland, 38%.

Ms Howells has expressed disappointment at Cardiff University’s proposed cuts, but says no further money will be made available by the Welsh Government to address the crisis, and that the UK Government needs to review the funding system for Higher Education (HE) across the UK.

So far, says the UCU, the Welsh Government has not addressed new revelations about how the proposed restructure at the university will impact on participation levels and access to HE places.

They will come under increased pressure to do so after it emerged that plans to update Senedd Members on post-16 participation in education on February 18 (announced on February 4) had been dropped a week later (in a revised plan posted on February 11). UCU representatives are concerned that the Welsh Government is avoiding the issue and not publicly intervening in university restructuring plans which would fuel an already extreme crisis in participation.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “In Wales, less than one in three 18-year-olds entered higher education in 2023-24, compared with almost half in London. Now, we learn that some universities are responding to the funding crisis by raising their tariffs and making it even more difficult for Welsh learners to get a place.

“During the Covid pandemic, Mark Drakeford as First Minister intervened to rescue higher education. As the current Cabinet Secretary for Finance, rather than allowing Welsh universities to wither on his watch, he must work with Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle to stabilise the sector and prevent a damaging cycle of strikes and job losses.”

‘Sector-wide problems’

Cardiff UCU President Dr Joey Whitfield said: “We call on the Welsh Government to do more to address the sector-wide problems facing HE in Wales, as well as the immediate issues at Cardiff University. They need to stop being taken in by the Vice Chancellor’s bland reassurances over job losses and publicly communicate a clear red line over compulsory redundancies, in line with UCU’s argument for drawing on some of its accessible £188m in cash reserves to fund a more gradual recovery. They should intervene to stop the Cardiff University Executive Board’s plan to cut chunks out of the university in a way which would be catastrophic for future learners, the future Welsh workforce, and fuel an already extreme crisis in participation.”

Cardiff UCU media spokesperson Dr Andy Williams said: “The university’s cruel and unnecessary cuts plans are dripping with unexamined prejudice which will end up further shutting working class and ethnic minority young people out of universities in Wales. They say they want to turn Cardiff University into a smaller, more agile institution, but seem oblivious to the fact that deprioritising home students, and axing courses like nursing, will just return us to the bad old days when university was for the privileged elite.

“The Welsh Government is not taking a strong enough line with university bosses. They need to stop avoiding this issue, stop passing the buck to Westminster, and wake up to what these plans mean for staff at risk of redundancy as well as young people in Wales.”

Meanwhile the UCU is also concerned about the damage done to Cardiff University’s international reputation by the cuts announcement. The widely read Channel News Asia (CNA) website ran an article this week stating that while a quarter of the total UK student population in 2023 were from overseas – just over 750,000 -. early data shows that in this academic year from September 2024 to August 2025, study visas have fallen by more than 30%, with postgraduate enrolment down by 40%.

‘Government rhetoric’

The CNA report said: “Critics blame falling international student numbers on anti-immigration government rhetoric and new visa restrictions introduced in January last year, which limit foreign students’ right to work and the visas on offer to their relatives.”

The report singles out the proposed cuts at Cardiff University, which are subject to a 90-day consultation period.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “We hugely value the HE sector in Wales, it is vital to realising our social and economic ambitions.

“The minister for further and higher education regularly meets all vice-chancellors in Wales and has invited them to a roundtable meeting to discuss these issues, as part of her ongoing dialogue with the sector.

“Additionally, we are engaged with the UK Government on HE reforms including how we fund our universities, governance and student support.”