University to suspend music and language courses

The university said the courses will be suspended from 10 November

All modern language and music courses are being suspended for new students at the University of Nottingham.

In an announcement on Thursday the institution also said it was "proposing to reduce its nursing offer", but said it remains "committed to training doctors, nurses, midwives and healthcare professionals".

Any students currently on courses will be supported to complete their studies, a spokesperson said, adding the university's council is set to make a decision on the future of the courses later this month as part of plans to address a fall in revenue.

The University and College Union (UCU), which will resume strike action next week, said it is opposing the move.

'University of Little England'

In April, the university announced more than 250 non-academic roles could be cut, with the vice-chancellor saying it was "grappling with significant financial challenges".

The university has not yet released details of cuts to academic jobs.

While it welcomed a coming rise in tuition fees for UK students, it said plans for an international student levy in England "would wipe out any benefits we may have realised from this, meaning we cannot rely on this additional income".

The courses will be suspended from 10 November, with the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service also set to be informed.

"Ahead of these proposals being put forward to the university's council later this month, we have taken the decision to suspend a small number of courses where demand is low or where they are not meeting the benchmark against a number of other criteria," a spokesperson said.

"While the university cannot pre-empt the decision by its council over the future of these courses, it is important it does not continue to recruit to courses which are proposed for closure."

While all music courses are among those earmarked for suspension, the university said it is "exploring how it can provide opportunities for students to get involved in music as an extracurricular activity", and is looking at how it can "retain elements of [our] language centre".

"We will do everything we can to minimise the impact on students to ensure they meet their learning outcome," the statement said.

Andreas Bieler, vice president of the UCU's University of Nottingham branch, said staff were "not surprised" by the announcement, adding the union "has not given up yet and will contest the closures of these programmes" through industrial action.

"If you [suspend] undergraduate programmes, then redundancies are on the cards very clearly," he said.

"Our university prides itself as a global university, but by cutting all [modern] language programmes they're turning it into the University of Little England."