Options for the future

University leader says he would cut student numbers to make ends meet, writes Alison Goddard.

Undergraduate numbers could be reduced at the University of Cambridge, should there be a funding shortfall later this year, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz has told the Financial Times. It reports that "In a sign of the anxiety pervading academia over deeper austerity, Sir Leszek said he would also look at modifying its one-to-one supervisions system, which has been the hallmark of a Cambridge undergraduate education for centuries." The interview also discusses how Sir Leszek would campaign for the UK to remain in the EU, should there be a referendum (some 15 per cent of the university’s research income comes via the EU) and how the university might recruit more international students (currently 11 per cent of its student body), should home students be funded less generously. 

Vice-chancellors’ pay came under attack again yesterday in the Observer. It reported a study which failed to find any link between high pay and the financial success of each university and its record at recruiting students from poor postcodes. It also found that vice-chancellors’ pay rises over the past two decades were four time those of lecturers. Wales Online also criticises the high pay and expenses of vice-chancellors in Wales. Its timing is puzzling: the story is based on information that was released and widely reported ten days ago.