More than 21,000 people have signed a petition against proposed redundancies at the University of Exeter, as leading writers, broadcasters, academics and theologians join a campaign to save 150 jobs expected to disproportionately fall on the humanities, arts and social sciences.
Petition and campaign details
According to the University and College Union (UCU), courses including history, English, modern languages and politics will suffer “irreparable damage” and proposed cuts on the university’s Falmouth campus will also put environmental sciences at risk. The petition continues to gather signatures, reflecting growing outrage at the sector-wide hollowing out of the humanities.
Financial context and union response
Multiple universities across the country are making severe cuts due to financial difficulties, including Goldsmiths, Nottingham and Sussex. However, the UCU says there is no financial need to force through cuts of this scale at Exeter, where the annual report for 2024-25 describes “a year of continued financial stability”. A meeting on Wednesday of almost 700 Exeter UCU members voted unanimously in favour of a ballot for industrial action. The mood was described as “febrile and mutinous” but also “positive and hopeful”.
Prominent supporters
Well-known names who have publicly expressed their concern include the former Tory MP and host of The Rest is Politics podcast Rory Stewart, the film critic Mark Kermode, the literary biographer Hermione Lee and the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Williams, who received his first honorary degree from Exeter 25 years ago, told the Guardian: “Everyone knows that the funding of higher education in this country leaves university management with deeply unpalatable choices. But it is very worrying that arts and humanities, including religious studies, seem so often to be automatically identified as the first and softest targets. Is the sector really committed to sustaining anything like a full humanistic and cultural education? Because this is not a luxury in a climate of polarised and historically myopic conflict.”
Economic and cultural impact
Business leaders in the south-west have warned of the economic impact of cuts on Exeter and the wider region. “Fewer students, and a diminished offer, means real consequences for the trade we all depend on,” they wrote in an open letter. Kermode, who is an honorary professor at Exeter University and lives in the south-west, posted on Instagram: “The creative arts are so important in the south-west. These cuts are really ill thought out and they threaten the very things that make me proud of Exeter. Please think again. This is a terrible mistake.”
The public historian, author and creator of the You’re Dead to Me podcast Greg Jenner warned on Bluesky: “The crisis in UK higher education is worsening week by week – Exeter University is one of the best in the UK … but it’s planning massive job cuts in history, archaeology, classics.” He added: “The arts and humanities are fundamental to the flourishing of our society; knowledge gathering, critical thinking and creativity should be defended as sacred things.”
Wider implications
Lee, who is also an emeritus professor of English literature at the University of Oxford, said the cuts would set “a savage and alarming precedent for the dismantling of disciplines, which matter profoundly and vitally to the welfare and future of the country”. She said: “If the leaders of Exeter University carry through these cuts, others will follow. This is not only a local or regional issue. All who value the humanities and their value to the nation should join in protest.” Stewart posted on X: “Worrying from Exeter – the university it seems planning to slash humanities teaching while telling colleagues it is ‘in line with the government’s industrial strategy’.”
University response
A spokesperson for the University of Exeter said the university was consulting on “limited and specific potential changes”, prompted by a shift in demand or “where current activities are no longer sustainable”, and hoped to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible. “While Exeter remains in a strong position, rising costs, the real-terms decline in tuition fee income, underfunded research and a sustained drop in international student demand mean we must take action now,” they said. Nick Hillman, the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: “While it is always a tragedy, with real human impact, when courses close, it would be irresponsible of managers and governors to ignore changes in demand for different courses.”
