Truthfully, how lengthy earlier than ChatGPT replaces all lecturers?!
Even fancy Russell Group unis are having severe cash issues in 2025. Several are resorting to getting rid of your lecturers to save money. 10 out of 24 Russell Group unis ran voluntary redundancy schemes final yr. The unis collectively spent far more cash on severance packages than they did final yr, in accordance with the Financial Times. Right here’s a deep dive into precisely what number of employees every Russell Group uni offloaded in 2024. Truthfully, at this charge, the scholars may need to start out instructing themselves.
Oxbridge determined to ditch far more employees than the opposite Russell Group unis. Oxford Uni’s annual report clarifies the variety of the employees they gave severance packages to is so excessive as a result of 137 of these folks labored for Oxford College Press, not the uni itself. Even so, if we didn’t rely the Oxford College Press folks, then Oxford would have nonetheless disposed of 100 extra employees members than another uni. Yikes.
Edinburgh Uni didn’t do away with many employees members this yr, as a result of they spent a really eye-watering £8.4 million on severance packages final yr. In keeping with the Glasgow web site, “There have been no funds for lack of workplace better than £0.1m through the yr”.
These numbers all got here from every college’s annual accounts. Cardiff College and Newcastle College haven’t printed their accounts from final yr but, which is why they’re not on the record.
So, with out additional waffling, listed here are all of the Russell Group unis ranked by what number of employees members they removed within the 2023/2024 tutorial yr. Plus, how a lot cash every uni spent on severance packages for them.
22. College of Glasgow – 0
21. College of Edinburgh – spent £0.4 million
20. London Faculty of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – 47 employees, costing £0.7 million
19. College of Birmingham – 58 employees, costing £1.8 million

The Birmingham Uni campus trying form of bleak
18. College of Liverpool – 111 employees, costing £1.0 million
17. College of York – 113 employees, costing £1.5 million
16. Durham College – 119 employees, costing £1.2 million
15. College of Southampton – 122 employees, costing £0.5 million
14. College of Leeds – 125 employees, costing £2.1 million
13. Queen’s College, Belfast – 149 employees, costing £0.8 million
12. College of Bristol – 194 employees, costing £1.8 million
11. Imperial School London – 216 employees, costing £1.1 million

London uni college students working extraordinarily exhausting
=9. Queen Mary College of London – 218 employees, costing £3.2 million
=9. College of Warwick – 218 employees, costing £3.2 million
8. College of Exeter – 268 employees, costing £8.8 million
7. College School London (UCL) – 292 employees, costing £3.3 million
6. College of Manchester – 294 employees, costing £1.7 million
5. College of Sheffield – 298 employees, costing £3.9 million
4. King’s School London – 318 employees, costing £2.9 million
3. College of Nottingham – 408 employees, costing £13.8 million
2. College of Cambridge – 414 employees, costing £4.5 million
1. College of Oxford – 656 employees, costing £5.3 million
Featured picture of the College of Nottingham by Barry Mangham through Artistic Commons