News

Budget drop to blame for Queen's cuts

MORE than 1,000 undergraduate student places will be lost over the next three years at Queen's University because of budget cuts, it has been revealed.

QUB vice chancellor Professor Patrick Johnston said the cuts in education, which are forcing both student and staff numbers to be slashed, threaten to destroy the quality of universities.

The cuts will come into effect in September with the removal of 290 degree places, although everyone who has already received an offer will be allowed to take up their place if they meet the entrance requirements.

In addition, 236 staff will leave through a voluntary severance scheme, which is open to everyone from cleaners to professors.

The university's senate endorsed the plan in response to an £8 million cut in the subsidy received from the Department for Employment and Learning.

Queen's has an annual intake of around 4,500 undergraduates and about 17,000 full-time students in total. It employs around 3,800 staff.

In an interview with the university's own communications team, Prof Johnston said Queen's could no longer rely on government funding and would now have to be "masters of our own destiny".

He added that this was a challenging time for the north's universities.

"Senate has agreed, as a result of these cuts, to decrease the number of students beginning with 290 this incoming year and a total decrease of slightly over 1,000 students. It also has agreed to a voluntary severance scheme to allow 236 people to retire from the university as a result of these cuts," Prof Johnston said.

"The cuts overall amount to close to £12m, made up of an £8m decrease in our funding from government, then the loss of tuition fees alongside that. These are really serious times, of course, coming on the back of having already absorbed 16 per cent cuts over the last four years.

"The reason these cuts have had to be made is because the level of funding for higher education now is dramatically lower than what we see in Scotland and England.

"Currently we have a deficit of 18 per cent in terms of funding from English universities and somewhere about a 12 per cent deficit in funding for Scottish universities.

If we continue to absorb cuts without any impact in what we do, we will destroy the quality and reputation of both universities, and in particular of Queen's."

Ulster University has already announced plans to drop more than 50 degree courses - although it is unclear exactly how many student places will be cut.

It was warned last year that up to 3,000 places at UU were at risk.