Welsh universities are in crisis – where is the Welsh Government?

James Downs, Mental Health Campaigner

A tidal wave of cuts is sweeping through Welsh higher education, threatening jobs, courses, and the future of entire institutions.

Cardiff University’s announcement that it would slash 400 jobs and axe courses in subjects such as music, Welsh, and philosophy sent shockwaves through the sector.

The University of South Wales is planning to cut at least 90 roles, and Bangor University has announced plans to eliminate approximately 200 jobs, aiming to save £15 million through a voluntary severance scheme but not ruling out compulsory redundancies.

With more job losses and course closures likely to follow across the country, this is not just a crisis for individual institutions—it is a crisis for Wales itself. And yet, the response from those in power has been little more than a shrug.

The market model is failing – but we keep doubling down

The financial troubles universities face are often framed as isolated budgetary challenges, as if each institution is simply failing to balance the books.

But these problems are more systemic. The funding model that underpins Welsh higher education is fundamentally broken, relying on a volatile mix of overseas tuition fees, research grants, and an unpredictable student market.

When numbers drop, as they inevitably have due to global economic shifts and Brexit, universities are left scrambling.

Rather than questioning this flawed approach, institutions resort to predictable, self-defeating solutions: cut staff, close courses, merge departments, and hope for the best.

The result? A higher education system that is shrinking, not strengthening. The subjects targeted first—humanities, arts, and even healthcare fields—show a clear bias towards prioritising immediate financial returns over long-term social value.

Where is the Welsh Government’s plan?

If universities are public institutions that shape the intellectual, cultural, and economic life of a nation, then their decline is a national crisis.

Yet, from the Welsh Government, there has been no real strategy, no emergency intervention, no attempt to steer the sector towards stability.

Higher Education Minister, Vikki Howells, has expressed her “disappointment”, which seems incongruent with the strength of feeling that has been expressed by those who have protested at the Senedd at the prospect of losing their careers and much-loved departments.

The narrative seems to be that universities should sort out their own mess, as if this were simply a problem of financial mismanagement rather than a structural failure that demands political leadership.

Scotland has already shown that a different path is possible, with more substantial public investment in higher education ensuring some level of stability.

Wales, meanwhile, has continued down a road where market forces dictate which courses and careers are ‘worth’ funding.

This is short-sighted and dangerous: if we continue on this trajectory, we risk becoming a country that cannot afford to teach its own language, support its own culture, or train enough professionals to run its public services.

Flawed arguments and dishonesty

It is striking that at the same time as announcing cuts in other areas, Bangor University has received a £10m donation for a new business school.

In times of economic strain, narratives about which subjects are the most ‘useful’ arise, with STEM, business, and technology being valued over the humanities, arts, and social sciences. This argument collapses under scrutiny.

The creative industries are among Wales’ most successful economic sectors, and higher education is itself a key driver of economic growth.

A well-funded arts sector attracts investment, fosters innovation, and provides the skilled workforce needed for a thriving, modern economy.

Cutting courses and academic jobs to ‘save money’ is not a neutral economic decision – it is a self-contradictory political decision.

Framing university cuts as cost-saving measures is fundamentally dishonest when their impact actually cuts off income streams in the future, weakening our nation’s ability to think, create, and compete.

So much for the old Labour mantra of “education, education, education”. So much for the wellbeing of our Future Generations.

The best we can hope for?

According to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, “the Welsh Government is supporting the sector as much as we can”, having had the “best funding settlement” from Westminster since devolution began.

The implicit message seems to be that this is the best the Welsh can hope for – a situation where university courses that serve our society are dispensable if they don’t return a profit.

The Welsh deserve better from their government.

We deserve a higher education funding model that prioritises stability. We deserve a government that is willing to step in when universities are in crisis, that has the political will to show that higher education doesn’t have to be at the mercy of the market.

We deserve a national conversation about what kind of higher education system Wales wants, and to create a shared vision of how universities can develop rather than diminish the things we value most.

We also deserve honesty. Inaction is a political choice, and no amount of warm words about valuing the arts or the wellbeing of future generations is a substitute for action.

A moment of decision

Right now, universities are being left to sink or swim in a system that is failing them. Politicians watch on, disappointed, when the real question is not whether we can afford to intervene, but whether we can afford not to.

The Welsh Government must decide: does it want to preside over the managed decline of its universities? Or does it want to build a future where education is recognised as a national priority, that belongs to and serves us all?

Time is running out to make the right choice.

James Downs is a mental health campaigner, researcher, psychological therapist and expert by experience in eating disorders.

James lives in Cardiff and can be contacted at @jamesldowns on X, Bluesky and Instagram, or via his website: jamesdowns.co.uk