The University of Nottingham is moving ahead with changes to its academic and organisational structure under its Future Nottingham programme, including course cuts and changes affecting over 500 jobs across the institution.
A spokesperson for the University of Nottingham said:
“Over the past two years, we have been developing a clear plan to strengthen our organisation for the future and ensure it continues to be a global leader in education, innovation, student success and research.
“Focusing on our students, it will help us shape an excellent academic offer and student experience. This will reflect what students want and need so that every student leaves us with the skills, knowledge and confidence to thrive, now and long into the future. And it will help us to become financially resilient so we can invest in our teaching and research.
“This transformation is among the most significant this university has seen in its 145-year history, and it is change that has been shaped by our staff, students and alumni. Around a third of the alternative proposals received through our consultation processes have been incorporated – either in part or fully – into the final business case and will help our future university develop and thrive.
“We know that change of this scale is not easy, and we do not underestimate what it means for many of our colleagues and students. We are doing everything we can to support our staff through this difficult process.
“Where the proposals affect people’s roles, we are working to manage the impact and minimise the number of compulsory redundancies that may be required. Throughout the process, at risk staff have been offered a number of voluntary redundancy options, a voluntary reduction in hours scheme and we will be exploring potential redeployment opportunities wherever possible.”
Final business case briefing
Following approval of the Draft Business Case, the Final Business Case has been materially changed as a result of collective consultation with trade unions and alternative proposals submitted by staff.
The university entered collective consultation between 8 May 2026 and 28 July 2026.
‘We considered 125 alternative proposals submitted by staff and two submitted by trade unions. Of these, just over 40 alternative proposals have been incorporated – either fully or partially – into the final business case.’
The resulting changes include:
‘Refinements to the proposed College, School and Department structures
he decline in student demand for degrees in Modern Languages is not unique to Nottingham.
‘We are seeing this trend across the sector and students are increasingly telling us that the way they want to learn languages is changing. We have reduced our student targets in this area by around 40% over the past few years – last year we recruited just over 100 students across 20 different courses. Although student demand is insufficient to retain degree course provision in modern languages, in response to feedback from staff and students we will retain module level provision through a new, University wide Language Centre offering a focused range of languages. This means that students on most courses will be able to add a modern language module as part of their degree.
· Retention of high-demand Americanist modules in English, History and Politics
· Continuation of strategically aligned research activity in music-related disciplines and the continued support of extracurricular music activities through our Lakeside Arts
· Adjustments to ensure we maintain capacity for teaching and research, resulting in changes to proposals in Medicine, Engineering, Chemistry and Pharmacy
· These changes, and others, have resulted in a reduction in the number of FTE compared to the draft business case – from 608 to 560. At the same time, new roles are being introduced.
