Lead

Universities across the UK are cutting thousands of academic posts in humanities and social sciences, prompting warnings from the British Academy and former education ministers about the impact on social mobility and essential skills. The University of Exeter is cutting 150 full-time posts, including 70 languages academics, and the University of Nottingham has proposed to stop offering language degrees altogether.

Coverage Comparison

Two separate reports by The Guardian examine the extent of the cuts and their implications. One focuses on the impact on languages and vocational skills, quoting former education secretaries who warn of harm to social mobility. The other draws on new data analysis by the British Academy, which reveals that nearly 4,000 academic posts in social sciences, humanities and the arts were cut in a single year.

Both reports emphasize the role of university finances and falling student entries in driving the cuts, but they differ in tone. The British Academy analysis, described as showing a crisis, uses terms like 'cold spots' and 'crisis', while the former education ministers' warnings are framed as a 'missed opportunity' and a 'terrible message' for leading universities.

Key Claims

  • The University of Exeter is cutting 150 full-time posts, including 70 languages academics. According to The Guardian, more than 70 languages academics were among 500 staff at the University of Exeter told they were at risk of redundancy as the university seeks to cut 150 full-time posts, predominantly in the humanities.
  • The University of Nottingham is proposing to stop offering language degrees, which would make it the first Russell Group university to do so, as reported by The Guardian.
  • Languages are compulsory for all pupils at GCSE in only 22% of state secondaries, according to this year’s Language Trends survey, as cited in the article.
  • Nearly 4,000 academic posts in social sciences, humanities and the arts were axed in one year alone, according to the British Academy’s analysis for The Guardian. In the 12 months to December 2024, just under 3,000 social sciences, 820 humanities and 240 arts jobs went.
  • Regional cold spots are forming for languages, classics and theology degrees, making it difficult for students to access these subjects at less selective universities, the British Academy warned.
  • The British Academy is warning of a crisis for social mobility, young people’s careers, and the skills the economy depends on due to the cuts in humanities and social sciences. Hetan Shah, the chief executive of the British Academy, said: “This is not just a crisis for higher education – it is a crisis for social mobility, young people’s careers, the skills our economy depends on and the opportunities available in communities across the UK.”

Perspectives

Former education ministers and experts argue that cutting language courses undermines social mobility, particularly for working-class pupils. David Blunkett, Labour education secretary from 1997 to 2001, said the cuts preclude a joined-up approach to learning and described scrapping language degrees as “a missed opportunity” for social mobility, but stressed the need to revitalise languages in the school system. Estelle Morris, his successor, said it was a “terrible message” that leading universities are retreating.

British Academy views the cuts as an accelerating problem that now extends beyond traditional subjects to include English and business, and increasingly affects Russell Group universities, which are considered strategically important and traditionally popular. Hetan Shah emphasized that universities have been forced to scale back subjects across humanities, social sciences and the arts, and the latest data shows the problem is worsening.