Are there any universities that AREN'T experiencing cuts? And which ones to avoid? Worried about paying a fortune for university fees and not getting value for money

[YetAnotherNewNameAgain]

I think I've written everything in the thread title 😬

DC is interested in stem - maths, physics, computer science type degrees.

Those with a high number of foreign students.
Oxbridge
Imperial
LSE
UCL
Maybe St Andrews

I'm also concerned op

The thing is, you’re not paying “a fortune.” you’re not paying enough.

No one in the UK is paying enough. All UK students are heavily subsidised by unpaid staff overtime and international students - those reviled students prepared to pay far more than UK students because they value what we offer, and staff who don’t have time to take annual leave.

Yes, those paying double local fees so they can be accused of being benefit scroungers.

The whole sector is in the doldrums, sadly. Staff morale is low even at the universities mentioned upthread. They still have serous cost pressures.

The entire sector is in freefall - UK HE shrinking

I know that students feel they are paying a fortune but the sector is in free fall. Most universities have lost at least 10% of their staffing if not more, and there are more cuts to come. This means fewer people doing more with less. My colleagues already work really hard - often to the detriment of their personal lives- I'm not sure how we are going to cope going forward.

If the unis are facing such significant cost pressures, why do they still pay "senior leadership" hundreds of thousands a year, plus endless consultants, new buildings etc.
I work in this sector and it absolutely needs the fat cutting, but at the top, not teaching staff.

I think STEM courses are more likely to be value for money.

English, Humanities etc have much lower contact hours and can accommodate more students onto courses without putting pressure on scarce resources (labs, materials etc).

There are a lot of sweeping statements here.

I do think nearly £10000 per year is a lot of money for each individual. And I think it's right that education should be subsided. We depend on the next generation.

I also think it's right that international students should pay more. I wouldn't expect to study abroad (and I have done) and expect to pay a fee subsidised by their government.

I feel so much for university lecturers, but I also feel for students, many of whom will struggle with money (ie their families as well) starting expensive courses that may lead to nothing if the university goes under.

Your statement that £10K pa is a lot of money and @ParmaVioletTea ’s are both true, OP. I also agree that some courses are worth more than others, and I don’t mean STEM vs Humanities.

I also agree with @JasmineTea11 that when the fee cap was raised many universities were pigs at the trough, commissioning fancy new buildings, hiring consultants, etc. The UK had in fact fallen a bit behind in management practices and many university estates were in a bad way, but the overkill contributed to the financial crisis we are now facing.

If a department goes under @YetAnotherNewNameAgain there will be arrangements put in place for the teach out of the remaining course.

A couple if things, however, our ds read Classics at Oxford. He had about 4 hours of contact time per week. He is the one who said "crikey, it makes my school fees feel like value for money". They were far higher. I do think his uni fees were vfm BTW. The other thing is that if you are worried about university being a waste of money or time, then think hard about whether it's the right choice for your child.

HE is in a precarious state. Perhaps there needs to be a correction and we need to think long and hard about whether 30/40% of young people need to go and whether there are graduate jobs for them. They don't exist for all, particularly for those graduating from the post 92s.

It's dire.

And I think it's right that education should be subsided. We depend on the next generation.

But it's currently being subsidised by unpaid staff overtime and international students which isn't sustainable.

HE is in a precarious state. Perhaps there needs to be a correction and we need to think long and hard about whether 30/40% of young people need to go and whether there are graduate jobs for them. They don't exist for all, particularly for those graduating from the post 92s.

That's really unfair, there are many Post 92's with excellent Graduate Outcomes as well as great research and teaching profiles. It's really lazy to just assume a post 92 university is a poor one.

The problem is that science, engineering, computer science and a few others cost a lot more than £9.5k to run. Even with cuts they make a loss on every student whereas humanities and arts students (excluding a few exceptions) cost under.

go for a course and location your dc wants to live in

I think they all are TBH just to what extent is varrying.

I've been worried as DS first choice has been in news with cuts and then course slashes - but recent article says it's stablised and it's not his potentail department- and student staifcation levels remain high.

DH uni facing cuts - but not his department or courses. They are heavily cutting admin - which pushes more on lecturers who already being given less time to do existing work - so reearch most likely at DH to take the hit.

His old one been going though them quietly for years - again less DH old courses.

DD1 going though them - her department being merged with another - had no effect on her or her course - few courses canceled not her's but current students continue.

I'm at a university facing cuts. None of the courses you've listed would be at risk at all.

We're encouraged to work more collaboratively and courses with less than 5 students have gone, but the quality hasn't gone down. If anything those in junior tutor posts are ridiculously over qualified now and should be way higher up the ladder, so the quality is in some ways higher.

University is definitely right for him - especially with what he wants to do. As long as he's guaranteed to finish what he's started, it's fine. I get concerned that money will be wasted if courses start going under.

What are his predicted grades?

A* and As

Then I guess all the unis I suggested, plus Manchester, Bath, and Sheffield?

Home fees aren’t subsidised OP - that’s a big part of the problem.

Then that's my misconception. Shocking.

two things can be true - it’s a lot of money but it can also be not enough!

also the government doesn’t fund the unis to a large extent aside from through loans which will be picked up by the tax payer if someone doesn’t earn enough to pay it bk.

I could be wrong! But I think the government does chuck in some money in Research funding but it’s not a lot (5bn or so). The rest is made up by overseas students.