Nearly a quarter of Ulster University staff apply for redundancy

The number of people applying for redundancy at the Ulster University shows the lack of confidence staff have in the institution, a union has said.

More than 700 people have opted to try to leave the Northern Irish university after it announced plans last year that it was looking to make cuts of around £25 million.

It opened a voluntary redundancy scheme, blaming an operating deficit of £20.2 million in 2025, but the University and College Union (UCU) said this has proved to be too successful.

The 735 staff members applying for redundancy substantially exceeds the university’s target of reducing its staff base by 450 full-time staff. It represents almost a quarter of its total staff of roughly 3,100 people.

The news comes amid reports by the BBC that Northern Ireland’s universities are facing a major cut of £21 million compared to their budgets provided by the country’s assembly in 2024-25, representing a 6 per cent fall.

Paddy Mackel, UCU official, said that the figures are a “stark indication of the depth of concern across the workforce”.

“This figure demands serious reflection by the university’s leadership, its governing council, the vice-chancellor and senior management. While an application does not necessarily mean that every applicant will leave, the scale of the response raises fundamental questions about staff confidence in the institution’s direction and their prospects for the future.”

He added that the university must “also consider the consequences of refusing applications from staff who have concluded that they need to seek their future elsewhere” and said that if those applications are declined without addressing the concerns that prompted them, the university risks “deepening dissatisfaction and further damaging staff confidence”.

Mackel said that the UCU branch, alongside Unite and Unison, negotiated with the university over the summer in a bid to protect jobs and ensure that compulsory redundancies were taken off the table.

However, despite putting forward more than a dozen potential alternatives to job losses, the unions were “deeply disappointed” that Ulster rejected the proposals.

Mackel added that the university is facing a “critical moment” and said the challenges will only become “more acute if the anticipated additional 6 per cent reduction in departmental funding is implemented”.

“The scale of the voluntary redundancy applications, the continuing uncertainty over jobs and courses, and the absence of a convincing resolution to the underlying problems demand an urgent and transparent response from the university’s leadership.”

The university was approached for comment.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com