Drop in productivity at seven of Wales’ eight universities

Martin Shipton

All but one of Wales’ eight universities saw a drop in income per academic staff member between 2015/16 and 2023/24, newly published research has shown.

Dr Eduardo Fe, a senior lecturer in social statistics at the University of Manchester, has collated figures that show how all universities in the UK changed in productivity per academic over the period.

Explaining the significance of the statistics, Dr Fe states: “Most institutions lost ground in real terms as staff growth outpaced income growth.

“UK universities face multiple challenges. There is the father (AI), the son (demand from international students), but the one that matters most is the holy moly (the financials). “I’ve posted before about university finances, pensions and so on, but the figure I’m sharing today shows the real terms change in 2026 prices in income per academic staff between 2015/16 and 2023/24.

“This is a quantity you would want to see growing. Why? Because universities’ fixed costs are dominated by staff salaries. When income per academic falls in real terms, the institution is either paying more people from a relatively smaller pot or income growth hasn’t kept pace with the cost of its academic workforce.

“Research in UK universities is almost never fully funded by grants. A higher income per academic ratio gives institutions the headroom to cross-subsidise research, fund early career positions and take on risky or speculative projects when income grows more slowly than the number of academics.

“Universities face pressure to extract more from each member of staff: larger class sizes, heavier administrative loads, reduced research time.

“So what does the picture look like for the [elite] Russell Group of universities? Universities’ real income per academic fell by between 10% and 37% at most institutions between 2015/16 and 2023/24.

Only eight institutions – University of Bristol, University of Southampton, University of Leeds, University of Cambridge, the LSE, Imperial College London, and the University of Manchester increased their income in real terms, with University of Oxford defying financial gravity. Elsewhere, it is all red.”

Here are the figures for Welsh universities:

Aberystwyth University

Number of academic staff 2015/16: 850

Number of academic staff 2023/24: 720

Income per academic staff 2015/16: £208k

Income per academic staff 2023/24: £193k

Real change (2026 prices): – 8.3%

Bangor University

Number of academic staff 2015/16: 990

Number of academic staff 2023/24: 960

Income per academic staff 2015/16: £208k

Income per academic staff 2023/24: £193k

Real change (2026 prices): -7.4%

Cardiff University

Number of academic staff 2015/16: 3415

Number of academic staff 2023/24: 3975

Income per academic staff 2015/16: £215k

Income per academic staff 2023/24: £178k

Real change (2026 prices): -17.5%

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Number of academic staff 2015/16: 715

Number of academic staff 2023/24: 885

Income per academic staff 2015/16: £197k

Income per academic staff 2023/24: £178k

Real change (2026 prices) -9.8%

Swansea University

Number of academic staff 2015/16: 1320

Number of academic staff 2023/24: 1740

Income per academic staff 2015/16: £322k

Income per academic staff 2023/24: £239k

Real change (2026 prices) -26.0%

University of South Wales

Number of academic staff 2015/16: 1805

Number of academic staff 2023/24: 1860

Income per academic staff 2015/16: £152k

Income per academic staff 2023/24: £142k

Real change (2026 prices): -6.5%

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Number of academic staff 2015/16: 650

Number of academic staff 2023/24: 965

Income per academic staff 2015/16: £231k

Income per academic staff 2023/24: £228k

Real change (2026 prices) -1.2%

Wrexham University

Number of academic staff 2015/16: 265

Number of academic staff 2023/24: 240

Income per academic staff 2015/16: £214k

Income per academic staff 2023/24: £283k

Real change (2026 prices): +32.3%

Since 2023/24 most universities have imposed cuts programmes. More up-to-date statistics will be published in due course.