Concerns at closure of Wolverhampton glass-making course

Glass-making student Tracey O'Shea says nowhere else in the country has the same level of facilities as Wolverhampton

Staff, students and graduates at a university say the end of glass-making courses there is "a travesty".

The University of Wolverhampton announced in May it was suspending recruitment on 138 of its undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Rising costs and declining applications have been blamed by the institution.

"I think it's a travesty to be honest," part-time mature student Tracey O'Shea said.

"The course has been going for over 170 years. There is nowhere else in the country that has the accumulated facilities that you have here."

The glass-making course is among the 138 with suspended recruitment and admissions were closed with immediate effect, with no new students recruited on to the course in September.

Existing students, who began their studies in or before 2021, have been promised they can complete their courses.

Wolverhampton and the wider West Midlands has a long tradition of glass-making

The Black Country has a long history of glass-making dating back to the 17th Century and a museum dedicated to the industry and the heritage opened in April.

Teaching staff at the university have spoken to the BBC off the record and said they were concerned about the future of their jobs and were expecting to face redundancy.

Ms O'Shea is halfway through her course and while she said she hoped to finish over the next three years, she was concerned resources would be cut.

"This has been here for a long time and I know that nationally there's a move against the arts in education. I think that is short sighted," she said.

Allister Malcolm fears the loss of the university's course will be catastrophic

Another graduate of the university, Allister Malcolm, runs a glass-making studio and said he was "gutted" at the loss of the course.

"The knock-on effect of closing that course is going to be catastrophic to the world of glass in this country," he said.

The university's interim vice-chancellor, Prof Ian Campbell, said the Covid-19 pandemic had led to large cost increases for the university while student enrolments had fallen.

"We are ensuring our staff and unions are kept informed and remain absolutely committed to providing an excellent learning and teaching experience for our students," he said.