100% funding cuts to UK arts courses...

[Quodlibet]

This horrifically depressing story today: Coalition funding cuts will remove 100% of public funding from many flagship UK arts institutions including Laban, Royal College of Music, Goldsmiths, Guildhall, SOAS, Central...a very long list.

This essentially is going to mean that not only is the future of our creative industries being drastically undermined, but that studying for a creative career is going to become even more difficult (or impossible) for those from low-income families.

Open University is going to be the biggest loser in cash terms - meaning many of those studying from home/part time/while raising children will also lose out.

Short-sighted, destructive and incredibly depressing.

we'll have left culture of music that's manufactured on TV, of poor quality actors/film makers/producers, no fashion labels that are "British", ..........

Agree Odelay - what's happening to the Arts Council is really really worrying news for those of us who have managed to eke out careers in the arts - as well as for the UK generally. The first things that will go will be rural touring and arts provisions to the regions, which don't get a fair slice of the action anyway, meaning great slices of the UK could become cultural deserts

erm- CerealOffender -remember which govenment actually introduced tuition top-up fees?

I find this situation very worrying. I have clients attending 2 of the institutions named as havign 100% cuts. They are from essentially destitute backgrounds- what are they supposed to do?

Santas, I recall somebody heavily involved in regional theatre telling me shortly before the election that they were fully expecting to have their funding slashed if the Tories got in. Hey ho, they were right. Yet regional theatre is exactly the sort of place the students you are talking about would work or at least cut their teeth.

It's no just arts though is it?

I was asked to consider applying for a Phd in Social Policy last week by a devent university.

Now, at this point it's not even worth considering for us; finances, domestics etc prohibit it The M-Res seems do-able at some stage though.

All comes under Arts and Humanities though.
That sort of thing will be for the chop as well. Heck, so does my MA- in autism. Such as waste of time, getting more autism specialists!

It's surely a case of pulling the ladder up behind themselves, and keeping the chances only for 'their own' from hereon in?

A PhD in social policy might be funded out of a research grant, or an ESRC scholarship (not arts and humanities). It may even be funded 1+3.

It wouldn't be funded out of the block teaching grant.

Joni- absolutely.

DH's colleagues are being told they will have to wo0rk for free; simply not manafeable for many, yet they are already in student debt so it's a really ahrd decision to make, whether to continue or give up.

Many won;t ever work in the arts of course; some will work in developmental technologies, others in architectural lighting or TV production of the manufactured kind. But if Dh had racked up severe debt and planned to work in an industry with the floor pulled out from underneath, I would be scared.

The Prof next door who ahs given up- he's an Arts professor but not 'arts' (IYKWIM)- it's RE he specialises in, in fact islamic terrorism is his exact specilaism. Such a subject of non-ointerest, no? I mean, why woudl we need to foster inter racial dialogue ro understanding?

Damsel the Head of Dept said that whilst there is funding available they now ask students how they will cope if they do not get it as it is such short supply; on a more basic level, reduced departments offering options means reduced opportunities. There's only one possible decent standard facillity I could access for study, if they were to close the department- no options.

would have thought dave would have been more understanding, having worked at itv himself

(It was also discussed in the context of a part time teaching position to help fund, so how could that not be affected by a cut inn teaching budget?)

In my experience most student just wouldn't take up the PhD place without funding. Even with ESRC funding, it can be a bit of a struggle with kids. I have no idea how anyone does without it.

You should apply anyway, and you can always pull out if the funding doesn't come through. Or you could look around for a studentship that's tied to an existing research grant. The ESRC are increasingly keen on this route.

The part-time teaching position is probably a way of saving money for the department. It costs less to get the postgrads to do it than to get lecturers or professors to do it. I did my MSc with a teaching scholarship. I has to do 120 hours of teaching over the year, which worked out to quite a lot. The funding was otherwise equivalent to ESRC funding. I did my PhD on an ESRC scholarship through the open competition, which was better as it meant that I could choose how much teaching I wanted to do and get paid extra for it. I still ended up doing loads of teaching, but that helped me to get a job in the end.

Honestly, I'd say apply if you want to (and you feel that you could make it through on a studentship) and don't feel bad about having to pull out if no funding comes through. The department should be sympathetic about it.

Thanks Damsel; have decided after much chat with DH to take a more prolonged route- have an MA in Autism to complete, then perhaps the M-Res in the department first. I come from an area where nobody ever does this sort of thing and I find if I take things in smaller steps, then sticking my neck out becomes less scary, if that makes sense? I also have a couple fo disabled kids so whilst I feel that social policy frokm my background could change their lives, I want tehir schooling etc settled before I go full throttle.

The idea that LSE should lose its teaching funding is utterly ridiculous. I can almost see how they can justify cutting funding to arts institutions in the sense that most people think of (ie fine arts, music, drama etc) - not that I in any way agree with that - but penalising somewhere that teaches economics for goodness' sake - aren't people who can help get us out of this whole crisis exactly what we need right now? One of their profs has just been awarded a Nobel prize, if that's not a good enough sign of the quality of work that's going on there then nothing will be.

I wonder if some of these places will be coming up with a very small science course to try and keep hold of some of their funding.

SantasMooningArse - SOAS only helps us to understand the politics of Africa (Yemen anybody?) and (despite their name) the Middle East, so obviously not worth bothering with...

I think its madness to cut funding to the OU. The OU offered a route to poor people to get degrees. It allowed single mums or disabled people or other people who find attending a conventional uni difficult to get a degree.

It is important that poor do not rise above their station in life to Dave Cameron.

sorry big x-post, that was in ref to SMAs neighbour who's retiring

RT trhat is sadly true.

The OPU grades I got were what showed me I could manage a degree, then a post grad, then maybe..... nobody I knew did a degree, I had to work- it absolutely changed our lives as a family.

Hopefully a few people will remember this when the next election comes.

I think you should go with whatever plan sounds best to you SMA. Your 'nontraditional' background will almost certainly be an asset to you when/if you do decide to go for it.

I got that Joni

In fairness it's not the LSE_ it was a smilar institution once though, and whilst he'd downgraded in order to manage his own life, we need the great schools of religion, philosophy etc in order to produce people like him in the first place.

I am firmly of the mindset that the biggest benefactor of religious ignorance is racial intolerance. Take away teh great training grounds for those who work toegther, as well as those who teach to children, and we all lose.

Than you, Damsel.

Reallytired, I couldn't agree more. So shortsighted. The talent we have in the UK is the envy of the world, but it's hard to see how we can maintain this position in the face of this.

I just want to second what reallytired's said about the OU. Just when I think the Coalition can't trot out any more regressive, punitive and ill-thought out proposals - poof! -out pops another.

Where do you start with this one, though really? Apart from kicking one really helpful step up for people who need to change jobs/earn more (and Lord knows, we're going to need it... ), running academic research into the ground - on subjects like your MA, SantasMooningArse, that could have such benefits for society in the long term, they're also planning to dismantle another of our most successful and well-regarded sectors.

What are they thinking? I would really like to know the rationale behind this as for the life of me I can't see one. The cultural sector in this country is one of our biggest assets - why destroy its training ground?

Wealthy and talented students will more than likely go overseas, as our arts institutions are run into the ground and the rest... well, what will they do? Doesn't matter, does it? The arts here will just be handed over to Nathan Barley.

Even other countries cutting their deficits haven't gone Hitchcock on the arts and education the way they have here, presumably as they can see it affects long-term growth.

I'm just at it all. This intake of Tories are managing to make Thatcher look enlightened - I mean, even Billy Elliot got somewhere under her govt.... God help him now.

well other countries are looking to education as an engine for growth.

Here, on the other hand, we have a magical private sector that isn't in any way struggling at all which can produce new jobs and investment out of nowhere. The problem is that the government have been getting in its way and so long as we tackle this there will be a pot of gold for everyone. Apparently.

One thing we can be sure of is the Tories will ring-fence History of Art courses.

If these were to go where the hell would the next generation of Tory boys find their future wives

Land Management.