Bangor University to cut 78 jobs in savings cost bid

Bangor University is cutting 78 jobs in a bid to making savings worth £5.3m.

In an e-mail to staff and students on Wednesday, the Vice Chancellor Professor Edmund Burke described the challenges facing the higher education sector as "unprecedented".

Documents seen by BBC Wales showed proposed changes to academic schools in order to reach savings.

It comes after universities across Wales face similar challenges regarding funding.

In February, Bangor University announced the need to cut 200 jobs in order to make savings of £15m.

The vice-chancellor said the university had made "good progress" in making savings through "strict controls" and "voluntary severance and retirements".

In February, the he said the university would need to make "unprecedented" changes, including cutting 200 jobs.

The figure has now been reduced to a "savings target of approximately £5.3 million representing around 78 full time equivalent posts".

A month-long consultation will take place giving staff and students the opportunity to share their opinion on where the job cuts should fall.

It has been suggested that the Department of Psychology could see about 13 full-time roles reduced.

The School of History, Law and Social Sciences could also face cuts with significant savings being made in professional staff units.

In his email, Prof Burke referred to the wider pressures on higher education with tuition fees falling "well short" of covering escalating costs.

"Undergraduate home fees were frozen at £9,000 since 2012, with no adjustment for inflation; whilst a small uplift to the fee has been agreed to those students that start in September 2025," he said.

The "situation in Wales reflects the broader national picture", the vice-chancellor said.

A drop in international students, a rise in costs and the UK government's changes to national insurance has left Welsh universities battling to stay afloat.

Prof Burke said the "recent press speculation about migration controls" could further impact international student numbers.

"Many universities have increasingly relied on income from international students to bridge the gap," he added.

Bangor University cuts follow similar announcements made by other higher education institutions in Wales.

Cardiff University recently backed down from proposed job cuts after planned strike action was set to take place.

The university said it was able to suspend compulsory redundancies this year because of the number of voluntary redundancy applicants.

Meanwhile Swansea University cut almost 200 jobs last year which led to calls for the Welsh government to review higher education funding.

In January, the Welsh government responded to calls for more funding by allocating a further £20m to the sector.

However campaigners have consistently called for a review of the funding model.