To feel nervous - does anyone know what the 13 Universities facing closure are?

[josben]

DS1 and DS2 are both planning to start Uni in September, and I have just read this article which is very unsettling - does anyone have any idea of what uni's in the below article will be facing closure ?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53280965

It will mainly be failing shitholes. Wolverhampton, Cambridge, Mansfield. Those kinds of institutions.

@myusernamewastakenbyme

I think its more than campus whispers...my son read out an email about redundacies last week...ive just popped upstairs to ask him again and he said he is certain the uni is in trouble.

Hi @myusernamewastakenbyme your son is correct UoK are in massive trouble largely due to a rather rubbish senior leadership team and this was the even pre Covid: www.inquiremedia.co.uk/single-post/2020/03/13/University-of-Kent-under-fire-for-60-mil-deficit

SOAS has been in terrible financial shape for several years now and is hugely dependent on international students, so among the larger RG universities that is the main one I would worry about.

I'm at a different RG uni and we've barely even furloughed anyone, no mass redundancies yet. There is a hiring freeze though.

People need to remember that the Russell Group are a self selected set on institutions that share the same 'mission' which primarily focuses on research. It has nothing to do with teaching excellence. Most ( if not all) universities are part of mission groups it just happens that the Russell Group is the most well known. It has to be one of the most successful marketing campaigns ever 😂

It was my experience, turning 18 in 1980, that Polys were a highly valued part of the HE landscape.

Yes, they were often only marginally easier to get into than unis, but they tended to err towards more higher level vocational subjects, often with that important sandwich year in industry.

But the UK is not alone in falling into that 'uni for all' (but because obviously a lot of kids aren't quite academic enough for actual uni, we'll rename their colleges to give the illusion of suddenly academically smarter kids); hence Queensland Institute of Technology is now Queensland University of Technology.

And, in doing so, we now turn up our noses at anything that doesn't have the word 'uni' in it.

FTR, I bet Southampton Solent is in trouble....

This might give a clue to the type of institution that might have problems.

Source: www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/BN300-Will-universities-need-bailout-survive-COVID-19-crisis-1.pdf

Is Wolverhampton really classed as a "failing shit hole
"? I know it's not brilliantly regarded but I didn't think it was that bad. I know it seems to be highly popular for nursing.

@onemouseplace

It said in the Times this morning that the majority of the at risk places had fewer than 2,000 students. One has 24,000 though.

Eek, that's exactly the number of students at a certain Russell Group uni.

@ResumetonormalASAP

Not sure but since everyone wants to go to 'Uni' now and many seem to offer degrees that get the individual in debt but offer not much else perhaps some of the useless subjects that really a degree isn't needed in will go....

I'm probably a snob though because my first degree is in science and second in soft science....

^^ This was my immediate thought as well. There does seem to be a lot of courses nowadays that don’t really lead to gaining employment afterwards.

No, it isn't a Russell Group uni.

The key piece of info in the Times article is that they are all in the bottom half of rankings or not ranked at all.

FTR, I bet Southampton Solent is in trouble....

Hang on. That rings a bell. This is all a near- rerun of a list produced about three years ago, isn’t it? By who? The QAA? Another body?

@thedancingbear Mansfield (shithole or otherwise) doesn’t have a university. The college offers some courses run by NTU on its campus.

www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2019/jun/07/university-league-tables-2020

Some up to date ranking information.

The list wasn't released by the IFS, full report here www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/BN300-Will-universities-need-bailout-survive-COVID-19-crisis-1.pdf

I'm not sure of the perception of LondonMet degrees, mentioned by a PP, but financially the institution is actually less reliant on international fee income than other institutions (precisely because of its previous problems).

This thread is quite an eye opener. I’ve never even heard of ‘Mansfield university’, as for ‘Cambridge’, that can’t be The Cambridge uni, so is it Anglia Ruskin? @thedancingbear

I've applied for Wolverhampton in September for a humanities subject to become a teacher. I have higher A Levels than they requested but as my DC's and DH can't relocate it was my only option. I'm wondering now whether I should go through with it. I decided against Open University as I think I'd be more motivated at a physical university. It's low low down on the league tables. The student protection plan says it has no debt and is financially stable and been operating at a financial surplus for ten years, but that was written last year before Covid .
I'm also now wondering if my degree will be worth the paper it's written on if people think it is a "failing shithole" but I was hoping to use it as a stepping stone to do a masters at a RG uni. Really conflicted.

SOAS has been in terrible financial shape for several years now

In my day, SOAS was the place to go. It would be a tragic loss, I’m sure. The truly international aspect may well push it over the edge. Awful.

Puzzled "Nobody looks at the name of the university and turns their nose up at it or assumes I'm not as qualified as anyone else"

I was quoting a PP when I posted that, but yes you're right; degrees from some of these Unis are most certainly not equal and neither are the Unis themselves, no matter what illusion they try to peddle - which is why some employers disregard them

As my ex used to say, "we need brickies as much as brain surgeons", and the current insistence on degrees for everything has got nobody anywhere. For me, what's needed is a greater focus on vocational training and and decent apprenticeships - not easy in the current climate I know, but vital all the same

Is BCU at risk does anyone know?

@thedancingbear

It will mainly be failing shitholes. Wolverhampton, Cambridge, Mansfield. Those kinds of institutions.

Cambridge?

I'm also now wondering if my degree will be worth the paper it's written on if people think it is a "failing shithole" but I was hoping to use it as a stepping stone to do a masters at a RG uni. Really conflicted

Ignore the HE snobbery on here.....MN is not representative of society (thankfully). Universities like Wolverhampton have their place in the and are great at serving their local area as not every student is in a position to relocate.
Good luck :)

*place in the sector not end!

Cambridge? confused

I think that was a joke.

I do hope not YSJ as my DH is a swnior lecturer there....