The government spending review, released this Wednesday by Chancellor George Osborne, has announced cuts of nearly £3 billion by 2014 from higher education.
Oxford University stands to lose £6 million from its teaching funding this year. Funding for arts and humanities is likely to be hardest hit, with government support maintained for science, technology, engineering and maths degrees.
Oxford University warned the cuts in grants would wipe away the benefit of seeing the cap on tuition fees raised, with the university having to depend on benefactors to maintain its position as a leading international university.
Ruth Collier, a spokesperson for the university said, “Proposals to protect research funding for science are a positive development. The same cannot be said for the planned cuts to teaching grants, which represent a setback for the sector.
“Already, funds that would otherwise be spent on research, infrastructure and postgraduate support at Oxford are being diverted to support the university’s world-class undergraduate tutorial system. We do not believe this is sustainable in the long term.”
Collier noted that the university is increasingly reliant on the support of benefactors, and that without them, Oxford’s international reputation “will be increasingly at risk — an outcome that is not in the university’s or the national interest.”
Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group of universities agreed that the cuts endangered British universities.
“We are concerned that the cuts will mean it will be tough to maintain the high quality teaching, learning and research environment our universities currently offer, even under the Browne system.”
Hundreds of political campaigners from Oxford joined in Bonn Square on Wednesday evening to demonstrate against the proposed government cuts.
“We want to show that there must be an alternative way of doing things. All that’s happening is “slash, slash, slash” said Ian Jones, one of the organisers behind the demonstration.
Many students at the protest were concerned about how they would be able to fund their education. Helen Thompson, a first year social sciences student, spoke of her concerns about the effect of government’s cuts on education, saying “I’m lucky – I got a bursary for this year, but for the next year, who knows?”
“If the cuts are there and the funding isn’t the country will lose out. It does feel like a backward step. This is simply a short-term economy measure.”
Leo Wan, a former student of Oxford university and who is currently a departmental researcher, was also quick to point out that “cuts to education will lead to a huge impact on Oxford as a town as well as a university.”
Another protester, Lis Ledger said she felt “indignant” about the cuts.
“I am proud though that we can stand here and say things against the government. That free speech is the most valuable thing we’ve got.”
However one second year history and politics student at Regent’s Park felt that “lots of my friends have said they aren’t interested in the cuts because they won’t be undergraduates when they take effect, which is an opinion I find quite disturbing.”
An Oxford tutor, when asked before the protest whether he wanted to say anything on the cuts, replied, “No comment – I’d like to keep my job thanks.”
