The largest university in Northern Ireland, Ulster University, has announced plans to terminate 450 staff following the government’s failure to approve an increase in tuition to match the UK’s current inflation rate.

With approximately 3,100 staff, Ulster University has campuses in Belfast, Coleraine, Londonderry, and a fourth one in Qatar.

The institution’s vice-chancellor, Paul Bartholomew, informed staff on Wednesday about the redundancies, stating the decision to retrench was inevitable.

“Redundancies across the higher education sector have become unavoidable,” BBC cited the university as saying. “To date, more than 100 institutions across the UK have downsized their staffing complement.”

“Ulster University has sought to hold off on making redundancies while continuing to work with the Department for the Economy, through their reviews, on possible changes to the HE (higher education) funding model in Northern Ireland,” the statement added. “It has recently been made clear to us that a sustainable funding model is not going to be forthcoming, and regretfully, we must now act to reduce our costs.”

In May 2025, Ulster University, alongside other higher institutions in Northern Ireland, had approached minister of the economy, Caiomhe Archibald, for approval to raise tuition by £1000. She declined.

The statement did not specify the campuses that will be affected by the job cuts. But Norman Hagan, university and college union chair for Ulster University, said the group will “strongly resist” the planned job cuts.

“Removing hundreds of staff will fundamentally damage the student experience and weaken academic provision,” Mr Hagan said.