Thank you to all the students who have asked questions and offered to support any campaigns opposing the cuts and job losses at UWS after our e-mail on 22/05/2025. We, like you, are concerned about the potential impacts these may have on the student experience at UWS. 

Your Student President has requested a meeting with the university principal, James Miller, as a matter of urgency, to discuss your concerns. We have set out the broad summary of questions we have received below, as well as some clarifications we can offer already on points in our initial e-mail. 

Alongside this we are also calling an all-student meeting, led by your Student President on Thursday 12th June at 3pm, to discuss student questions and include you all in creating the demands we should be making to protect students before the details of the cuts are confirmed. 

Join online using this link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YjA5YTg3ZmUtYWZhNS00NTQ0LWFjNDAtMzBhZjgzOTA2YjBi%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22f89944b7-4a4e-4ea7-9156-3299f3411647%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22b6617aed-5f6b-4972-9f36-1383e3cd5b68%22%7d

Get in touch with any questions and come along to discuss next Thursday!

Your Union Team

 

Below is a summary of questions your elected officers will be asking on your behalf: 

So far the majority of your questions have related to course continuation and completion. We do not know what the impact on individual courses will be yet as this has not been confirmed, but we will be looking for clarity on the questions below:

CONTINUATION AND COMPLETION

• Will courses be discontinued for students already enrolled?
• Will students be able to complete their degrees?
• What options will students have if courses are removed?
• Will the university honour commitments to pre-existing students?

IMPACT ON COURSE DELIVERY

• Are courses likely to have a widening staff-student ratio?
• Will students have fewer choices when it comes to optional modules etc. 
• What is being done to support staff who are retained, to ensure they are not overworked and stressed which will have a negative impact on the student experience. 

WHO WILL BE IMPACTED

• Are all years of study going to be impacted?
• Are all campuses going to be impacted?
• Which courses will be impacted?

TIMESCALES

• When will cuts happen?
• When will students find out what is happening both broadly and on their specific course?

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT

• How can students get involved in the response?
• How can students support lectures and programmes? 

FINANCE QUESTIONS

• How did the £16.9 million deficit arise? 
• What other alternatives were considered to making the savings? 
• Where and how are savings going to be made beyond academic staff cuts?
• Will students receive tuition fee compensation if teaching hours are reduced?