Proposals to cut up to 10 staff and reduce undergraduate numbers by 50 in the school of chemistry at Cardiff University have been scrapped in favour of an alternative plan requiring a smaller reduction in undergraduate numbers and fewer redundancies.

The new proposals, put forward by the school of chemistry during a consultation earlier this year, have been accepted by the University Executive Board and have now been sent for final approval.

In January 2025, Cardiff University shared a number of proposals aimed at reshaping its academic activity to achieve academic and financial sustainability. These included a variety of changes to the school of chemistry, such as merging it with the earth and environmental sciences and physics and astronomy departments to form a new school of natural sciences. This was expected to lead to the loss of five to 10 full-time employees.

Alongside this the university proposed reducing its yearly domestic chemistry undergraduate intake by 50 students to achieve a student:staff ratio of 15.5:1 and closing its BSc in medicinal chemistry in the 2026–2027 academic year.

The proposals were considered under a consultation, which ran for 90 days and involved staff, students and stakeholders, including the campus unions. Concerns expressed by staff regarding the impact of redundancies on research outputs and teaching quality, particularly in specialised areas such as medicinal chemistry, swung the decision their way. Staff had also warned of the damage redundancies could have on student experience and the school of chemistry’s ability to attract and retain students.

Courses saved

According to the university, the BSc medicinal chemistry course will not close and the MSc in this subject will remain in the school of chemistry, rather than moving to the school of pharmacy as was initially proposed. The school also successfully made the case that a smaller reduction to domestic undergraduate intake, reducing numbers by just 30 rather than 50, was financially viable.

Staff losses would still be required but the changes to the proposals meant that the reduction will now be 4.1 full-time equivalents. This, according to the university, has already been achieved through voluntary redundancy and the ending of fixed term contracts, which means the school will face no further redundancies.

Finally, the merger between the schools of chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, and physics and astronomy will go ahead in 2026–2027. The resulting school will be named the school of physical and environmental sciences, rather than the school of natural sciences, following concerns from staff about the benefits of a merger and market demand for natural sciences.

Documentation shared by the university stated that the rationale for the merger was to unlock opportunities for interdisciplinary provision and research, especially at the postgraduate level, as well as supporting the development and delivery of new programmes in a ‘transnational education setting’.

A spokesperson for the university says work on these changes is ongoing and subject to consultation but that there should be ‘little immediate impact on our current chemistry students and their studies’.

Helen Pain, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), said she ‘cautiously’ welcomed this development in Cardiff. ‘[It] suggests the university has listened, but against the backdrop of UK higher education facing a financial sustainability crisis, with courses and departments including chemistry facing significant change,’ she added.

Pain said that the chemistry department at Cardiff had delivered ‘strong input’ to the consultation, with the RSC providing support through insights and data and members also sharing their views. ‘This is not an isolated case: we provide and will continue to provide input directly and via heads of chemistry to similar reviews and encourage members to do so too, to ensure the future of the chemistry profession,’ she said.

‘We should also reflect that our research shows chemistry jobs have the potential to grow 30% above the economy average in the coming years and chemists are a vital part of the workforce in government’s priority sectors – particularly in life sciences, advanced manufacturing, clean energy and defence,’ she added. ‘We continue to influence for quality chemistry learning, research and innovation that meets economic, employer and student need across the UK.’