One in four university physics departments fear closure in next two years – poll

A quarter of UK university physics department heads fear their units will be shut down within the next two years due to financial pressures, a survey has found.

In a survey by the Institute of Physics (IOP), most university physics heads of departments (84%) said they were facing financial challenges or had done so recently.

Eight department heads (27%) said they expected to face possible closure within the next two years.

More than four in five (83%) expected there to be staff cuts within the next two years, and 60% were anticipating degree courses closing in their department.

‘Severe threat’

IOP president Sir Keith Burnett, former vice chancellor at the University of Sheffield and former chair of physics at the University of Oxford, said: “Just when we most need physics graduates, researchers and innovators, the foundations of this ecosystem are under the most severe threat.

“While we understand the pressures on public finances, it would be negligent not to sound the alarm for a national capability fundamental to our well-being, competitiveness and the defence of the realm.

“We are walking towards a cliff edge but there is still time to avert a crisis which would lead not just to lost potential but to many physics departments shutting down altogether.”

There are roughly 60 university physics departments in the UK. IOP received survey responses from 31 in total – around half.

Some 79% said they were already facing or had recently had staff cuts in their departments.

More than one in three (38%) said they had considered mergers or consolidation.

IOP said the numbers of students studying physics started to drop in 2021/22 after steady growth in the previous decade.

Financial challenges

Universities across the UK are facing financial challenges, with many having announced redundancies or cost-cutting measures. More than two in five forecast a deficit for 2024/25 in data released in May.

Physics departments are vulnerable to these growing financial pressures “due to the comparatively high teaching costs of physics”, the IOP said.

One head of physics at a UK University said: “Our university has a £30 million deficit. Staff recruitment is frozen, morale is low.

“Yet colleagues in our school continue to deliver with less and less and under increasing pressure. I’m very concerned that we are close to breaking point.”

The IOP is calling on the Government to commit funding for science and engineering departments, to set up an “early warning system” for departments at risk of closure, and to radically reform higher education funding.

It also called for the Government to change visa policy so international students were removed from net migration figures, the graduate visa was retained in its current form, and to make the Global Talent and Skilled Worker visas more affordable.