University of Exeter (UCU) Strike Calendar

The dispute is over proposed cuts, which put 500 research and teaching staff, including more than eight in 10 academics in the faculty of humanities, arts and social sciences at risk of redundancy, resulting in 200 compulsory job losses. Last month more than 600 staff attended a jam-packed emergency meeting to take a no confidence vote in the vice-chancellor. A petition against the cuts has gained over 30,000 signatories and key public figures including Stephen Fry, Rory Stewart, George Monbiot, Samira Ahmed, Alice Roberts, Mark Kermode, Adam Rutherford and Rowan Williams have supported the staff campaign.

Management says it needs to make the cuts due to financial pressures. Yet the university is recruiting unprecedentedly high number of undergraduate students, is running a surplus this financial year (25/26), and has hundreds of millions of pounds in cash reserves. There has been no restraint in executive pay with the vice-chancellor earning around £400,000 per year plus bonuses. Capping the 16 highest-paid staff's salary at £120k would save more money than all the cuts to archaeology and history departments combined.