The University of Sheffield is planning to make big cuts this academic year. These cuts will hit the staff and resources that all students rely on, making life at the University worse and more stressful for everyone who studies here.

The University has announced a voluntary redundancy scheme for most departments. This is the beginning of £25 million worth of cuts this academic year – soon to be followed with an additional £21 million. This year, £9 million of those cuts will come out of the budget for university staff. This comes in addition to a hiring freeze, which has already increased the workload for existing staff staff. 

The University claims that cuts are necessary due to falls in student recruitment. This sentiment has been echoed by the Office for Students, which argued in May that universities were first and foremost businesses. With shrinking and failures to be expected, “difficult but necessary decisions about the shape and size of the institution” would have to be made. Yet, the fact is, that making cuts and increasing tuition fees just kicks the ball down the road, and does not address the fact that a sector so dependent on fees and recruitment is inherently precarious.

Instead of pushing the government for higher tuition fees and making brutal cuts, the University should cover its funding black hole by demanding instead that the government step in. Education is a public good and should be organised as one. The funding system we need is free education for home and international students, maintenance grants for all, funded by taxing the rich. Or better still, if cuts are to be made, it should be the pay and perks of top university executives. 

Student groups on campus are saying no to the cuts, and there has been a great deal of student organising. A coalition of socialist groups, including The Solidarity Group, Marxist society, Socialist Worker Students, Workers’ Liberty Students and Socialist Students has formed to oppose the rise in tuition fees and cuts to University funding. The campaign is ongoing, and everyone, students and staff, who oppose these cuts is invited to join.

This united front work is a big step forward for the Sheffield student movement, which has often been divided in the past. United action on common ground will certainly be more effective. It is a critical advantage to the campaign that organising against the cuts has started so early. It is vital that pressure is placed upon university management to concede to the majority, and to reverse the cuts.