Cardiff University 400 job cuts ‘threaten supply of nurses’

Elsewhere, Swansea University said it will have to make £30m of cuts by the 2026/27 financial year despite more than 300 staff members leaving since September 2023.

The university’s annual report, published this week, said it had made £8.5m in savings through voluntary redundancies in this financial year.

But they stated they will extend their current financial savings programme for a further year and increased the level of expenditure savings by £30 million.

Swansea University told Newyddion S4C, external: “Even taking the additional savings required into account, we are confident that we will meet our academic pay savings targets this year through vacancy management and our Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES) and can avoid compulsory redundancies relating to our financial position.”

Plaid Cymru education spokesperson Cefin Campbell said the news of Cardiff job cuts was met with “deafening silence” by the Welsh government.

He challenged the Welsh government to explain “what they knew and when” about Cardiff’s plans and called on the university to urgently rethink its proposals.

A Welsh government spokesperson said it was “very disappointed that nursing courses form part of these proposals” and that it was “working urgently” to ensure the same number of nurses were trained in Wales.

A statement shared by Cardiff University Student Union president Madison Hutchinson said: “We want to express our unwavering support with all students, and solidarity to staff who may be impacted.”