British universities are experiencing an unprecedented financial crisis that is severely impacting architecture schools across the country, with widespread job cuts, strike actions, and program closures threatening the future of architectural education. In 2023, a parliamentary inquiry warned that the current higher education funding system was unsustainable and would lead to growing problems in coming years, a prediction that has now become reality as architecture departments struggle with stagnating enrollments and mounting financial pressures.
The University and College Union (UCU) reported in March that more than 5,000 job losses were expected across the higher education sector, with an additional £238 million in cuts anticipated and major deficits appearing on university balance sheets. The union fears another 5,000 positions could be at risk as all but the top-tier institutions frantically tighten their budgets. In an unprecedented move this month, the University of Greenwich and the University of Kent announced they would merge to form the country's first "super university," though both institutions deny the decision was made under financial pressure despite Kent posting a £6.3 million deficit in 2024 and Greenwich implementing a restructuring program involving redundancies.
Established architecture programs at prestigious universities including Newcastle, Greenwich, and Sheffield have been fighting this year to redirect cuts away from frontline teaching, but concerns persist that strikes and collective bargaining may only provide temporary relief if underlying systemic problems aren't addressed. Laura Mark, who taught at multiple architecture schools before leaving academia this summer, argues that UK universities are fundamentally broken, pointing to a flawed funding model that relies heavily on inflated fees from international students to subsidize domestic students. This approach has become increasingly unreliable as the government cracks down on immigration and foreign student numbers dropped in 2024, causing widespread panic among universities forced to rethink their investment strategies.
"Architecture schools have been badly hit by this," Mark explained. "But there is also a refusal to accept the inevitable. As universities cut more and more, architecture courses will suffer. It has already started at some of what we might consider the best architecture schools in the UK." Even Newcastle University's powerful reputation couldn't save it from industrial action that saw staff take to picket lines, though strikes resulted in all compulsory redundancies being taken off the table for that round of cuts.
Matt Perry, UCU chair at Newcastle University, told reporters that at least one-third of UK universities had experienced job losses over the past year. While his efforts kept staff reductions to a minimum at Newcastle, he remains deeply concerned about higher education's future. "We've got a wave of unprecedented job losses in higher education and it's because the funding model doesn't work anymore," Perry warned, adding that further cuts and even university bankruptcies could be likely unless the sector changes course soon.
The financial crisis stems partly from domestic tuition fees remaining frozen at £9,250 since 2011, with only a marginal £285 increase planned this month. Universities initially turned to international students to boost their finances, leading to artificial prosperity that funded new campus buildings and student halls. However, this boom has abruptly ended, leaving institutions vulnerable without the ability to raise domestic fees significantly and facing an uncertain pool of foreign students who often prioritize London universities over others.
The situation has been complicated by rapid expansion in accredited architecture schools and programs, growing from 38 in 2014 to 63 today, raising questions about market sustainability. Recent data from the Office for Students revealed that 44 percent of higher education providers are currently operating at financial deficits, a proportion that has climbed year-on-year since 2021. Architectural Association director Ingrid Schroder wrote in June that all schools were "trying to square the same circle," noting that cuts to staffing, property, IT, HR, and student aid costs couldn't produce the savings needed to sustain many architecture schools.
"Short of a dilution of the professional curriculum, there isn't much left to trim," Schroder observed, arguing that incremental staff reductions would yield only small savings while creating disproportionate resentment and anxiety. This uncertainty is translating into worsening experiences for both faculty and students in architecture departments. "It's a shit time to be a student, or an early career researcher or a studio tutor," Mark stated bluntly. "Jobs at the lower levels of academia are becoming increasingly scarce. Morale is increasingly low; the system is failing everyone."
Alan Jones, professor of practice and education at Queen's University Belfast and past president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), attributes the crisis to disproportionate focus on research, ballooning administrative overhead, and stagnating international student numbers. Following the American model of expanding leadership, managerial, and administrative staff to more than 50 percent of personnel has increased costs while necessitating reductions in teaching staff and physical resources, he explained.
Jones suggests potential solutions including online delivery of lecture-based modules across multiple institutions and government action to return architecture to the same funding band as engineering, which would reflect post-Grenfell technical and professional education demands while securing approximately £100 million more annually. Despite university claims that cuts won't impact students, Newcastle has already paid out almost £2.5 million to more than 10,000 students for learning disruption caused by industrial action between March and June.
Students are experiencing direct impacts from the crisis. A University of Sheffield student reported missing in-person studio time due to strike action, having to take lectures in parks instead of proper studios, and fighting to prevent final reviews from being moved online. The university has also eliminated several programs, including dual architecture with landscaping and engineering master's qualifications, forcing undergraduate students to change their career plans. Some students have reportedly been advised against taking planned industry placement years simply to ensure their courses will still exist when they return.
At the University of Greenwich, students have been kept uninformed about chaotic restructuring of the architecture department, according to a former tutor who described the process as "untransparent and disrespectful." An insider reported that three senior School of Design members, including academic portfolio lead Simon Herron and senior lecturer Susanne Isa, were suspended with immediate effect in July following staff protests against the restructuring program, though Greenwich declined to comment on the circumstances.
The uncertainty surrounding the Greenwich-Kent merger has also affected staff morale, with tutors kept uninformed about their employer's future. However, University of Kent director of architecture studies Peter Wislocki expressed neither surprise nor concern about being kept in the dark, calling the super university "a logical response to market forces." Wislocki painted a more optimistic picture, reporting record undergraduate numbers for the coming year with strong recruitment and satisfactory outcomes despite challenging circumstances.
While some departments appear to be weathering the storm better than others – the University of Manchester continues to report healthy enrollment numbers – the broader financial crisis continues to have ripple effects on university staff, students, and the next generation of architects. Newcastle University stated it achieved its £20 million salary savings target without compulsory redundancies through voluntary severance and redeployments, while compensating students for missed teaching due to industrial action. The University of Sheffield noted that students registered in discontinued programs can continue normally, including those taking placement years, and reported increased undergraduate numbers for current enrollment.
Despite some positive signs, experts agree that until the underlying financial crisis is resolved through fundamental reforms to the higher education funding model, British architecture schools will continue facing threats to their programs, faculty, and ability to properly educate future architects. The situation highlights broader questions about the sustainability of the current university system and its ability to serve both students and society's need for qualified architectural professionals.
