Goldsmiths staff back industrial action over latest job cuts

Union members at Goldsmiths, University of London have voted in support of industrial action in response to new plans to cut jobs. 

The university informed staff members that it intends to make savings of £22 million by the end of the 2026-27 academic year. 

According to the university’s University and College Union (UCU) branch, the institution is looking to cut professional services staff in the coming months, with job cuts for academic staff to follow from September 2026.

The union balloted its members on industrial action over the news, achieving a 63 per cent turnout. Of these, 81 per cent voted for strike action and 92 per cent voted in favour of action short of a strike, including a marking and assessment boycott. 

A Goldsmiths spokesperson said: “We’re taking action to secure our place as one of the world’s leading creative universities, at a time when many in higher education are facing uncertain futures and are having to make difficult decisions.

“In an increasingly disrupted world we simply cannot afford to stand still, and our plan will ensure that we are able to continue delivering unique critical education and research while supporting our students to achieve their ambitions.”

The university has already been through several rounds of job cuts in recent years, including a voluntary severance scheme announced in May 2025. 

In a statement, the union branch said the university had not explained where the savings from previous cuts had gone and said it had “repeatedly requested” a detailed breakdown of the university’s financial position. 

Goldsmiths’ latest financial statements show it generated an underlying operating surplus of £1.1 million in 2024-25 after a “challenging” year.

It said staff costs fell to £83.1 million, compared with £90 million the previous year. 

The UCU branch also questioned the launch of a new series of online courses “requiring frequent assessments”, which it said would “place an enormous additional burden on colleagues already stretched beyond capacity after previous staff cuts”. 

“Repeated rounds of cuts have not delivered stability,” the union continued in a statement. 

“They have undermined it. At this point, we have to ask ourselves what management’s long-term plan actually is, because nothing about their latest announcement of mass redundancies suggests they are sincerely interested in ensuring the continued survival of Goldsmiths.”