UCU warns funding cuts will shatter dreams of generation told to apply to university

The union said the cuts, coupled with regressive student funding policies, would shatter the dreams of thousands of potential students the government had actively encouraged to apply to university.
 
For 2010-11, cuts of £135m have been added to 'efficiency savings' of £180m, with a further £600m to follow. The higher education sector is taking the biggest hit in public spending cuts and the union pointed to the fact that Germany, France and America had all pumped additional funding into higher education as part of their economic recovery programmes.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'If these cuts go ahead the dreams of thousands of students, consistently encouraged to apply to university by the government, will be shattered. The government has spectacularly failed to understand that massive funding cuts will have a massive impact. The sector simply cannot do more for less.
 
'Our higher education system is already creaking under the pressure of government efficiency savings and the planned cuts will be a devastating blow. Other leading economies are investing money in universities in order to help economic growth and widen participation, yet our government seems intent on doing the opposite.'
 
UCU has already identified over 5,000 jobs at risk in higher education and believes the cuts will lead to thousands more. University chiefs said recently that 30 universities risked going to the wall. The union has further warned that unless the cuts are reversed, over 14,000 staff risk losing their jobs and our students will face some of the biggest class sizes in the world.