Staff at Goldsmiths, University of London, one of the UK’s most celebrated art schools, plan to take industrial action following a restructure plan announced by college management. The plan, some academic staff say, amounts to “academic vandalism”.
The University and College Union (UCU), which represents academic and professional staff, says in a statement that the acting vice-chancellor David Oswell told all staff in an email on 26 March that the college intended to make savings of £22m by the end of the 2026-27 academic year, most of which will likely be actioned by the end of March 2027.
Goldsmiths has carried out extensive restructuring over the past five years, launching the Recovery programme in 2021 and the Transformation programme in 2024. The Goldsmiths UCU says that the Recovery programme led to £7.6m in recurrent savings while the Transformation programme generated a further £16.1m worth of savings.
“Future Goldsmiths [the latest proposed two-year restructure programme] will involve sacking professional services staff in the current academic year, with job cuts for academic staff to follow in September,” the union claims, adding that a recent freedom of information request revealed that Goldsmiths has spent more than £14m on private consultants—including management consultants, law firms and recruitment agencies—since 2019.
The alleged costs include £2.7m for management consulting firm KPMG; £283,390 paid in 2022-23 to the law firm Shoosmiths to provide legal support on redundancies and internal disciplinary matters; and £191,468 paid in 2024-25 to management consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers for a report on the restructuring of professional services under the Recovery overhaul. Goldsmiths did not comment on these figures.
Staff in the Goldsmiths UCU have subsequently balloted for industrial action. On a 63% turnout, 81% of members have voted for strike action, with 92% voting in favour of Action Short Of a Strike (ASOS), which would include a marking and assessment boycott.
A Goldsmiths spokesperson says: "We’re taking action to secure our place as one of the world’s leading creative universities, at a time when many in higher education are facing uncertain futures and are having to make difficult decisions.
“In an increasingly disrupted world we simply cannot afford to stand still, and our plan will ensure that we are able to continue delivering unique critical education and research while supporting our students to achieve their ambitions.”
On announcing Future Goldsmiths, Oswell said that without purposeful redesign, the institution will continue to face structural financial deficits and an operating model that is not “aligned with future learners, regulatory expectations, or the pressing realities of our sector”. The aim is to transform the “academic model, operations, digital and estates and financial management by 2028” so that it can “deliver a portfolio aligned to its critical core” and offer flexible learning access.
Goldsmiths has produced a number of famous art alumni such as Damien Hirst, Steve McQueen and Sarah Lucas. Nine Goldsmiths graduates have won the Turner prize including Gillian Wearing in 1997 and Laure Prouvost in 2013.