After mass cost cutting measures were announced by Cardiff Uni in January, most of them have since been paused, or stopped entirely with more protections for a number of university departments. Some courses are still set to get the chop, but there are signs of hope for students and staff.
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00:00Earlier on this year, Cardiff University announced some large-scale cost-cutting measures,
00:08including as many as 400 job losses and axed courses across the uni, sparking outcry from
00:13within the institution and the possibility of industrial action among the staff. Speaking
00:17to students at the time, there was clear concern for the future of the uni and for their ongoing
00:22studies. The university has since announced that most of the proposed cuts were being paused,
00:28with no more forced redundancies and the future of music and languages in Cardiff being protected
00:33for the time being at least. A number of other departments faced the chop, including nursing,
00:38which had been safeguarded earlier on in May, but other courses like ancient history as well as
00:42religion and theology would be cut, pending authorisation from the university council.
00:51Music and languages courses have been secured, but enrolment criteria will be altered,
00:55with higher standards for music being put forward and a smaller cohort of language students,
01:00meaning the courses will stay for the time being. The job cuts have been a particular issue for the
01:05university and a revision to the amount of possible job losses down from 400 to less than 200 and a
01:11pause on all job cuts for the remainder of 2025 have meant planned strike action from the university
01:16college union have been stopped as part of a deal with the uni. With cuts paused, but by no means
01:23stopped entirely in the future, one of Wales' most established educational institutions is at risk.
01:28But with most of the mass cuts now being reversed, there are clearly signs of hope for the century
01:33plus old uni. That being said, the history is all there, but the future is anything but certain.
01:39James P. Watkins, Fordham for Local TV.