UK universities have announced cuts equivalent to more than 15,000 jobs over the past year as financial pressures mount, according to the University and College Union (UCU).

The union calculated that university leaders have mooted staff reductions amounting to 12,230 jobs, while planned savings of ?197 million could equate to the further loss of about 3,224 jobs, based on the average cost of employing a university worker.

UCU described the situation as a ¡°worrying escalation¡±, having reported roughly 5,000 proposed job cuts across British universities in March.

¡°This analysis exposes a UK-wide crisis in higher education,¡± said UCU general secretary Jo Grady.

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¡°These job losses are not minor, and government must stop treating them as localised incidents.¡±

According to UCU¡¯s analysis, the University of Edinburgh has announced the most cuts since 2024, with 1,800 jobs set to go.

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Others have announced significant plans to reduce expenditure, including Coventry University, which wants to save ?100 million.

¡°Overpaid vice-chancellors are carrying out brutal cuts and have caused an existential moment for the UK higher education sector; our members do not want to strike but they have been left with no choice but to ballot to defend it,¡± said Grady.

Union members are set to vote on strike action after a pay increase offer of 1.4 per cent was rejected by all university unions.

Higher education unions are balloting over demands that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (Ucea) commits to a national agreement to halt redundancies at all universities, protection of existing national agreements over terms and conditions and a ¡°fair¡± pay offer.

It is uncertain whether the unions will secure the turnout needed to move ahead with industrial action.

Ucea chief executive Raj Jethwa said the sector was?¡°suffering from unprecedented financial factors which are well-documented, including rises in costs, falling international student recruitment, and the significant increases in employer?TPS pension costs¡±.

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He said the?2025-26 pay uplift?¡°clearly does not reflect the true value employers place on staff but, given the severity of the financial pressures they face, this pay offer was the only prudent option open to employers, to try to protect students and staff¡±.

Rather than pursue a ballot for industrial action to seek a pay rise of RPI plus 3.5 per cent, he said employers and unions should?¡°work together to highlight the value of higher education to the UK economy¡±.

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¡°But that can¡¯t and won¡¯t happen if UCU pursues industrial action causing disruption and suffering for students,¡± Jethwa added.

Employees at some universities, including Edinburgh, Nottingham and Leicester, have already walked out since the new academic year started in September and others have announced strike ballots over local disputes.

UCU has also urged the government to intervene to support universities and their employees.

¡°The Labour government must also stop looking the other way,¡± said Grady.

¡°Earlier this year it rightly introduced emergency powers, recalled parliament and provided the funding necessary to save 2,700 blast furnace jobs and British Steel.

¡°Yet universities, which make up our country¡¯s last world-leading sector and serve as economic lynchpins in post-industrial communities, are losing five times as many staff.

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¡°Ministers cannot claim to be serious about national renewal while watching the crisis from the sidelines.¡±

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com