University union calls for an end to ‘dangerous assault’ on humanities

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In the letter from UCU general secretary Jo Grady, the union raises “serious concerns” over a “new wave” of redundancies and course closures at UK universities, citing recent announcements from De Montfort University, Roehampton University and Wolverhampton University on redundancies, most of which are based in arts and humanities subjects. She added that the universities had helped to widen access for working-class students and accused vice chancellors of adopting the Government’s “reductive agenda”, which aims to “fuel a bonfire of arts and humanities provision”. Ms Grady also criticised “frequent public attacks on so-called ‘low value’ courses” and said that proposals to introduce student number controls for certain courses risked narrowing access to the arts to a “small elite”. “But if the evidence of the last year is anything to go by, our members, our union, is more than up for the fight.” A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The Government continues to back our world-class higher education sector with an additional £750 million worth of funding for universities over the next three years and more 18-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds going to university than ever before.