Catherine Lamond, Wolverhampton University UCU Branch Vice-Chair, gave an excellent talk on the current problems in UK higher education at the Wolverhampton, Bilston and District Trades Council meeting on 18 September 2025.

NEU and NAS-UWT representatives outlined the problems facing schools, including inadequate funding, shortages of teachers for STEM subjects, not enough nursery staff or support for SEND pupils and the new Ofsted proposals being not much better than the old ones.

Catherine covered the funding crisis in HE, students building up huge debts, the shortage of graduate jobs, fees for home students not covering actual costs hence the dependence on international students who pay higher fees and government policy on international students being volatile. The redundancies and course closures across the country narrow the curriculum and reduce opportunities for many UK students, particularly those who want to/need to study in their home area.

Other UCU delegates made useful contributions and a further discussion with local councillors about the local situation is planned.

Wolverhampton UCU has passed a motion of no confidence in the management of the Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences in their ability and willingness to foster a thriving research environment in the faculty because of the removal of hundreds of hours of research time from lecturing staff in 2024/5.

The full text of the motion is:

Following FABSS management’s failure to engage with colleagues’ serious concerns regarding the withdrawal of additional research hours raised in our communications with Faculty and University leaders, UCU members at the Branch Meeting on 15 May voted unanimously to express no confidence in your ability to put in place an equitable and successful research allocation model and call on you to reverse this decision or step down before the completion of Workload Allocation at the end of May 2024

The University of Wolverhampton is currently deferring all pay rises (not pay scale increments) for 11 months from the date of implementation across the sector, and without backpay. So all staff will lose 11 months salary increase permanently. The August 2022 rise was implemented in July 2023. The interim rise as part of the 2023 pay rise which the rest of the sector received in February 2023 will be implemented in January 2024, and the final part of that year’s pay rise will be seen by Wolverhampton staff in July 2024. Wolverhampton UCU have been informed by University Executive Board that there is no limit to the period in which the university can delay pay rises