OfS cuts "catastrophic" says UCU

Latest government cuts to higher education are "catastrophic" said UCU. The union was responding to the slashing of the Office for Students' strategic priorities grant and capital funding.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "Slashing over £100m from the OfS priority fund, alongside an effective £84m cut to capital spending, would be ruinous at the best of times, but coming on top of Labour's repeated attacks on international students, this could be catastrophic for more financially vulnerable universities.

"Our union is fighting hard to protect jobs, courses and student provision, and where we have received support from politicians, such as in the Senedd, we have saved vital courses like nursing. But the Labour government in Westminster has failed to take the bold action needed to protect the sector. The small increase in tuition fees is barely a sticking plaster and fails to address the crisis' root causes. Unless Keir Starmer shows leadership, the sector will crumble. He must stop the decay that began under the Tories, provide financial support, save jobs, and work with us to prevent vice-chancellors from making reckless cuts."