‘Please think again’: fury over Exeter University plan to scrap dozens of humanities posts

Rowan Williams and Mark Kermode join campaign against proposed cuts for arts and social sciences

Leading writers, broadcasters, academics and theologians have thrown their weight behind a campaign to save 150 jobs at the University of Exeter , amid growing outrage at a sector-wide hollowing out of the humanities.

In excess of 21,000 people – and counting – have signed a petition railing against the proposed redundancies at Exeter, which are expected to disproportionately fall on the humanities, arts and social sciences for which the highly ranked Russell Group university is famed.

According to the University and College Union (UCU), courses including history, English, modern languages and politics will suffer “irreparable damage”, with proposed cuts on the university’s Falmouth campus also putting environmental sciences at risk.

Multiple universities across the country are making severe cuts due to financial difficulties – including Goldsmiths, Nottingham and Sussex – but the UCU says there is no financial need to force through cuts of this scale at Exeter, where the annual report for 2024/5 describes “a year of continued financial stability”.

A meeting on Wednesday of almost 700 Exeter UCU members voted unanimously in favour of a ballot for industrial action. The mood was described as “febrile and mutinous” but also “positive and hopeful”.

Well-known names who have publicly expressed their concern include former Tory MP and host of The Rest is Politics podcast Rory Stewart, film critic Mark Kermode, literary biographer Hermione Lee and former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

Williams, who received his first honorary degree from Exeter 25 years ago, told the Guardian: “Everyone knows that the funding of higher education in this country leaves university management with deeply unpalatable choices.

“But it is very worrying that arts and humanities, including religious studies, seem so often to be automatically identified as the first and softest targets.

“Is the sector really committed to sustaining anything like a full humanistic and cultural education? Because this is not a luxury in a climate of polarised and historically myopic conflict.”

Business leaders in the south-west have also warned of the economic impact of cuts on Exeter and the wider region. “Fewer students, and a diminished offer, means real consequences for the trade we all depend on,” they wrote in an open letter.

Kermode, who is an honorary professor at Exeter University and lives in the south-west, posted on Instagram : “The creative arts are so important in the south-west. These cuts are really ill thought out and they threaten the very things that make me proud of Exeter. Please think again. This is a terrible mistake.”

Public historian, author and creator of the You’re Dead to Me podcast Greg Jenner warned on Bluesky : “The crisis in UK higher education is worsening week by week – Exeter University is one of the best in the UK … but it’s planning massive job cuts in History, Archaeology, Classics.”

He added: “The arts and humanities are fundamental to the flourishing of our society; knowledge gathering, critical thinking and creativity should be defended as sacred things.”

Lee, who is also an emeritus professor of English literature at the University of Oxford, said the cuts would set “a savage and alarming precedent for the dismantling of disciplines, which matter profoundly and vitally to the welfare and future of the country”.

“If the leaders of Exeter University carry through these cuts, others will follow,” she said. “This is not only a local or regional issue. All who value the humanities and their value to the nation should join in protest.”

Stewart posted on X : “Worrying from Exeter – the University it seems planning to slash humanities teaching while telling colleagues it is ‘in line with the government’s industrial strategy’.”

A spokesperson for the University of Exeter said the university is consulting on “limited and specific potential changes”, prompted by a shift in demand or “where current activities are no longer sustainable”, and hoped to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible.

“While Exeter remains in a strong position, rising costs, the real-terms decline in tuition fee income, underfunded research and a sustained drop in international student demand mean we must take action now.”

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: “While it is always a tragedy, with real human impact, when courses close, it would be irresponsible of managers and governors to ignore changes in demand for different courses.”