Course closures at University of Surrey raise concerns

Several “important” courses in science and engineering have been suspended at the University of Surrey, with a union accusing the institution of “covert” closures.

The University and College Union (UCU) said staff have been informed without prior warning or consultation that recruitment for their courses has been suspended and are expected to be taught out in the coming years.

Numerous course listings on the university’s website say “recruitment has been suspended”, including for its undergraduate programmes in environment and sustainability and mathematics and physics. Suspended postgraduate courses include water and environmental engineering, environmental strategy, and international corporate finance.

Other courses redirect to an error page, including mathematics and physics with foundation year and environmental strategy with industrial practice.

The university insisted that the courses were under review, and that being reviewed does not mean they are guaranteed to be withdrawn. They added that reviewing the viability of courses was a typical process for universities.

However, the UCU branch said it was aware of 20 courses that have been placed under threat in recent months. It said that typically only “two or three” programmes are suspended a year. The university confirmed that 11 programmes would not be running in 2026-27, with the future of several others still to be decided.

UCU acknowledged that the impacted courses are “small” programmes with lower intakes but noted that modules within these programmes are often taken by students on other courses.

A UCU committee member said: “Open communications to all staff from the university’s executive board describe a strategy to refresh degree programme offerings and support those that are smaller and more niche, with strategic value. 

“Behind closed doors exactly the opposite appears to have been happening, with programmes in such important areas as environmental engineering, microbiology, sustainability, and medicinal chemistry among others, being permanently closed in haste, without meaningful prior input from the academic teams representing those disciplines.”

They said that this “covert approach to such a high number of programme closures, sometimes without adherence to due process, has caused our members significant concern ranging from potential reputational damage to the future of these important disciplines at the University of Surrey to the more practical concerns around loss of income”. 

A spokesperson for the university said that “evolving and improving our portfolio of programmes and pathways to meet the changing needs and expectations of future applicants and employers is a continuous process”. 

It said that this year it had added new programmes and pathways, while a smaller number were under review. 

“We routinely review our portfolio to ensure it remains current. Programmes and pathways with low cohort numbers are not conducive to the excellent student experience we are committed to delivering.”

But it insisted that a programme being reviewed “does not automatically equate to withdrawal of the pathway, and wherever possible, this normal annual review process will look for opportunities to adapt the focus or positioning of the pathway to maximise applicant demand”. 

“The addition, refinement and occasional withdrawal of courses is all part of the natural life cycle of a programme portfolio designed to meet the changing needs of the market,” they said.

But the UCU spokesperson contested this. “If there’s no risk to staff jobs or core disciplines we run here at Surrey, it’s not clear why they’re being so secretive about it.”

“We’re completely aware as a union of the stresses that universities are under. If there's a particularly valid reason why these programmes need to close for financial reasons – because small programmes cost money to run – we would want to see evidence of that.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com