College staff vote to strike over job cuts threat
Staff at the University of Sheffield International College (USIC) have voted to strike over proposed job cuts.
A total of 36 staff are at risk of redundancy, with private operator Study Group citing falling student numbers.
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) voted in favour of the action, with a turnout rate of 72%. All of those taking part backed the action, the union said.
Sam Morecroft, UCU branch chair, said: "It is clear these redundancies have nothing to do with falling student numbers and everything to do with an attempt to force an untested standardised operating model on our college."
Mr Morecroft said if the job cuts in the student support and academic teaching teams went ahead it would "increase staff workload and reduce the quality of academic and pastoral support our students receive".
Study Group recently signed a new 10-year contract with the University of Sheffield to run USIC.
The organisation enrols students from around the world to improve their English and provide preparation courses for those who want to go on and study at the University of Sheffield itself.
Courses can cost up to £26,000 per year.
A Study Group spokesperson said they were committed to providing an "excellent education" but changes in international recruitment meant they had to "adapt" staff numbers.
"We very much regret UCU members at Sheffield International College have made this decision, especially after months of active engagement to try to avoid such an outcome, to a point where compulsory redundancies have been minimised," the spokesperson added.
Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
University faces £50m shortfall in finances
University of Sheffield International College
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia come knocking for Imanol Alguacil
Imanol Alguacil's future, the former coach of Real Sociedad, seems to be moving further and further away from Spain. Saudi Arabia has burst into the bidding for his services, and Al-Shabab is shaping up to be his next destination after a key meeting in Riyadh. The coach from Orio, who seemed destined to join Sevilla, has received a millionaire offer that makes him rethink his future. Sources close to the Saudi club confirm that Alguacil spent about six hours at Al-Shabab's facilities, known as the 'White Lions', where he not only discussed the attractive economic offer but also the team's ambitious sports plans. Advertisement From Riyadh, local media report that the agreement is closed, although in Sevilla they insist that the Basque coach has not yet made a final decision. Sevilla has lost ground in his signing. Not even the arrival of Antonio Cordón as sports director has accelerated the negotiations, leaving the Andalusian club with almost no options. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. 📸 Juan Manuel Serrano Arce - 2025 Getty Images
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Council tax bills set to rise at fastest rate for two decades, economist warns
Council tax bills are set to rise at their fastest rate for two decades in the wake of Rachel Reeves' spending review, according to the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Paul Johnson said that local government in England did 'perhaps a little bit better than it might have expected' out of the Chancellor's statement on Wednesday, but the 'sting in the tail' is the assumption that 'council tax bills will rise by 5% a year' as part of the funding. The core spending power of councils is set to increase by 2.6% a year from next year, and 'if English councils do choose 5% increases – and most almost certainly will – council tax bills look set to rise at their fastest rate over any parliament since 2001-05', Mr Johnson said on Thursday. On Wednesday, Ms Reeves said that ministers will not be 'going above' the 5% annual increases in council tax. She told ITV: 'The previous government increased council tax by 5% a year, and we have stuck to that. We won't be going above that. 'That is the council tax policy that we inherited from the previous government, and that we will be continuing.' The biggest winner from Wednesday's statement was the NHS, which will see its budget rise by £29 billion per year in real terms. Ruth Curtice, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, has said that Britain is turning into a 'National Health State'. Overnight, the think tank said Ms Reeves' announcements had followed a recent trend that saw increases for the NHS come at the expense of other public services. Ms Curtice said: 'Health accounted for 90% of the extra public service spending, continuing a trend that is seeing the British state morph into a National Health State, with half of public service spending set to be on health by the end of the decade.' Defence was another of Wednesday's winners, Ms Curtice said, receiving a significant increase in capital spending while other departments saw an overall £3.6 billion real-terms cut in investment. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) made similar arguments about 'substantial' investment in the NHS and defence coming at the expense of other departments, although Mr Johnson warned on Wednesday the money may not be enough. In his snap reaction to the review, Mr Johnson said: 'Aiming to get back to meeting the NHS 18-week target for hospital waiting times within this Parliament is enormously ambitious – an NHS funding settlement below the long-run average might not measure up. 'And on defence, it's entirely possible that an increase in the Nato spending target will mean that maintaining defence spending at 2.6% of GDP no longer cuts the mustard.' Ms Curtice added that low and middle-income families had also done well out of the spending review 'after two rounds of painful tax rises and welfare cuts', with the poorest fifth of families benefiting from an average of £1,700 in extra spending on schools, hospitals and the police. She warned that, without economic growth, another round of tax rises was likely to come in the autumn as the Chancellor seeks to balance the books. She said: 'The extra money in this spending review has already been accounted for in the last forecast. 'But a weaker economic outlook and the unfunded changes to winter fuel payments mean the Chancellor will likely need to look again at tax rises in the autumn.' Speaking after delivering her spending review, Ms Reeves insisted she would not have to raise taxes to cover her spending review. She told GB News: 'Every penny of this is funded through the tax increases and the changes to the fiscal rules that we set out last autumn.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
51Talk Online Education Group to Present on the Emerging Growth Conference on June 17, 2025.
51Talk Online Education Group invites individual and institutional investors as well as advisors and analysts, to attend its real-time, interactive presentation on the Emerging Growth Conference. SINGAPORE, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- 51Talk Online Education Group (the "Company") (NYSE American: COE ), a global online education platform with core expertise in English education, is pleased to announce that it has been invited to present on the Emerging Growth Conference on June 17, 2025. The next Emerging Growth Conference is presenting on June 17, 2025. This live, interactive online event will give existing shareholders and the investment community the opportunity to interact with the Company's investor relations vice president David Chung in real time. Mr. David Chung will perform a presentation and may subsequently open the floor for questions. Please submit your questions in advance to Questions@ or ask your questions during the event and Mr. David Chung will do his best to get through as many of them as possible. 51Talk Online Education Group will be presenting at 9:05 AM Eastern time for 30 minutes. Please register here to ensure you are able to attend the conference and receive any updates that are released. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available on and on the Emerging Growth YouTube Channel, We will release a link to that after the event. About the Emerging Growth Conference The Emerging Growth conference is an effective way for public companies to present and communicate their new products, services and other major announcements to the investment community from the convenience of their office, in a time efficient manner. The Conference focus and coverage includes companies in a wide range of growth sectors, with strong management teams, innovative products & services, focused strategy, execution, and the overall potential for long term growth. Its audience includes potentially tens of thousands of Individual and Institutional investors, as well as Investment advisors and analysts. All sessions will be conducted through video webcasts and will take place in the Eastern time zone. About 51Talk Online Education Group 51Talk Online Education Group (NYSE American: COE) is a global online education platform with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students to take live interactive English lessons, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students. CONTACTS: 51Talk Online Education Group David ChungInvestor Relations Vice Presidentdavidchung@ Jinling WangInvestor Relations Managerwangjinling@ View original content: SOURCE 51Talk Online Education Group Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
