University profits down after wide-scale job cuts

THE University of Plymouth has seen its profits plummet by about £24 million after seeing student numbers fall as it made 351 staff redundant.

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

The university had to pay out £10.243m in redundancy payments this year, which contributed to its surplus falling to just £500,000 from £24.1m a year earlier.

The wide-scale job cuts followed 91 redundancies made at the higher education institution last year and were part of a £22m cost-saving drive.

The university's newly published annual report said nearly all the job losses this year were part of a “targeted and mainly voluntary redundancy scheme delivered to ensure longer term financial sustainability”.

The report said the university had also been hit by a fall in the number of students with the most significant decline being in the number of foreign students.

This was put down to visa regulations, global economic pressures and increased competition from overseas institutions.