Cardiff University has 1/2 billion pounds in reserves!

According to BBC Wales.

And they want to make cuts???

It is only an 'Accounting Surplus' according to the University.

But the union says £188 million is in cash!

The accounts are apparently being published this week so we will see

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Originally Posted by Elwood Blues

According to BBC Wales.

And they want to make cuts???

It is only an 'Accounting Surplus' according to the University.

But the union says £188 million is in cash!

The accounts are apparently being published this week so we will see

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Many courses will be redundant with AI.

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

Many courses will be redundant with AI.

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Many courses should be made redundant now anyway! Some of them are more like hobbies than serious degree courses.

You have to ask what reserves are for if not times like this..

But..the university is on shaky financial ground with the dynamics of student financing. Basically the overreliance on international students is being exposed as numbers reduce. There is every chance they will increase again but not for a few years potentially. In which time the university becomes seriously loss making. I think some reserves being used is probably a fair suggestion but it would be a sticking plaster if it meant there were no changes in personnel. You would very likely have the same issue next year.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

You have to ask what reserves are for if not times like this..

But..the university is on shaky financial ground with the dynamics of student financing. Basically the overreliance on international students is being exposed as numbers reduce. There is every chance they will increase again but not for a few years potentially. In which time the university becomes seriously loss making. I think some reserves being used is probably a fair suggestion but it would be a sticking plaster if it meant there were no changes in personnel. You would very likely have the same issue next year.

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Universities expanded quite a bit from the 90's onwards, and many higher education institutions became universities as well. Maybe that cash cow has come to an end and it's time to go back to how it used to be?

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Originally Posted by Gofer Blue

Many courses should be made redundant now anyway! Some of them are more like hobbies than serious degree courses.

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But not nursing which they are talking of scrapping!

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

You have to ask what reserves are for if not times like this..

But..the university is on shaky financial ground with the dynamics of student financing. Basically the overreliance on international students is being exposed as numbers reduce. There is every chance they will increase again but not for a few years potentially. In which time the university becomes seriously loss making. I think some reserves being used is probably a fair suggestion but it would be a sticking plaster if it meant there were no changes in personnel. You would very likely have the same issue next year.

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I am sure they must be mindful of the future.

But as I said above they are talking of cutting nursing.


I have my reservations about unions.

But this is surely an instance where both sides should discuss the options thoroughly which does not appear to have happened

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Originally Posted by Gofer Blue

Many courses should be made redundant now anyway! Some of them are more like hobbies than serious degree courses.

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I don’t think that’s true for any Russell Group University unless you can give any examples?

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

You have to ask what reserves are for if not times like this..

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Because using that for recurrent costs is unsustainable. It would last about 4 years max. They have to reduce those recurrent costs - it’s their only choice. And any schools that are not making a profit will be the first to go.

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Originally Posted by Elwood Blues

I am sure they must be mindful of the future.

But as I said above they are talking of cutting nursing.


I have my reservations about unions.

But this is surely an instance where both sides should discuss the options thoroughly which does not appear to have happened

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I think in practice, nursing may move to one of the other unis? I gather that's what may happen with the music dept which tbh I never even knew Cardiff Uni had. RWCMD is a better fit for that I guess.

But yeah, none of it is good news. I think dropping the modern languages dept seems particularly poor from a reputational point of view as it's very much the kind of thing you expect top universities to be teaching

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Originally Posted by stevo

Because using that for recurrent costs is unsustainable. It would last about 4 years max. They have to reduce those recurrent costs - it’s their only choice. And any schools that are not making a profit will be the first to go.

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Yes I agree. I think a small proportion of it to soften the blow may happen though

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Originally Posted by stevo

Because using that for recurrent costs is unsustainable. It would last about 4 years max. They have to reduce those recurrent costs - it’s their only choice. And any schools that are not making a profit will be the first to go.

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Absolutely, you can't use reserves to plug operating costs (legally or morally). The system is broken and has been for years sadly, as soon as foreign students stopped being the cash cow that could offset domestic fees this was obvious but it's hard to see another solution than fewer unis offering fewer , and more expensive, courses unfortunately.

Seems like there’s more foreign students here than ever, particularly the business school. They’ve built blocks of flats just to house Chinese students….surely there are more than ever post covid?

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Originally Posted by goats

Seems like there’s more foreign students here than ever, particularly the business school. They’ve built blocks of flats just to house Chinese students….surely there are more than ever post covid?

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The Business School has always drawn the highest number of foreign students, it’s one of the university’s flagship schools

But the total number of foreign students started to decline after Brexit.

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Originally Posted by goats

Seems like there’s more foreign students here than ever, particularly the business school. They’ve built blocks of flats just to house Chinese students….surely there are more than ever post covid?

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Over the last 20 years they have increased dramatically but last year was the first drop (16% drop after student visa rules were changed) and the sense is that the bubble has burst. There are other problems involved though ,such as a falling population and not being able to raise fees inline with mass inflation.

It's slightly ironic that this involves Cardiff and Academics ,as Uni staff have faced cuts and worsening benefits for many years now and the more prestigious Uni's (of which Cardiff is one,being in the Russell Group) have ,so far, been able to drop their grades requirements to hoover up more students from 'lesser' Uni's but it's hard to see anything other than a decreasing circle for the sector as a whole.