Professor Peter Edwards, who succeeded Prof George Boyne, admits there is a challenge in store for the University of Aberdeen as they look to achieve a break-even financial position by 2028.

Edwards, who only took up the role as university principal last month, admits there is still “a lot of work to do” although progress has been made in finding more than £5.5m of savings.

After a year of battling financial pressures, the University reopened a voluntary severance and early retirement scheme in April this year to help find £5.5m in savings.

This saw the University of Aberdeen make headlines as they cut jobs confirming 41 people took the offer of a severance package or an early retirement, although no compulsory redundancies have been made.
The University also froze recruitment and requested departments would seek further measures to save money.

According to the institution, the “wide-ranging measures” implemented so far have reduced its deficits for 2024/25 to £4.3m, keeping the university on track to work within their budget and work towards achieving their target of a break-even position by 2028.

Professor Edwards took the role amid the ongoing financial challenges, stated: “it is my ambition and the ambition of the senior management team, that this current financial year will see another improvement again.”

Edwards would continue, stressing that a wider conversation was needed about the current university funding model in Scotland, he stressed: “There needs to be a fundamental look at what the model needs to be in the future.”

Last month, a report was leaked that saw BBC Scotland News highlight concerns that alleged “power struggles” and a “toxic culture” within some universities communities.
Acknowledging the findings, Prof Edwards said: “I think some of the behaviours that we have seen have been challenging.” Before adding that he wanted to foster a culture of respect across the institution.

The University of Aberdeen was facing criticism in 2023 over plans for redundancy along with their decision to no longer offer single honours degrees in modern languages.
However, Prof Edwards said the university would be reviewing all their undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and could not rule out the possibility of future course closures.

When questioned about any future job cuts, Prof Edwards was proud to announce that no departures were made redundant but instead left through the severance scheme, as he remained hopeful they can make the changes at the university without resorting to redundancies.

Furthermore in this sector, Edinburgh University announced £140m worth of cuts to tackle financial problems whilst Dundee University needed assistance from the Scottish Government.

A Scottish Government spokesperson emphasised the importance of universities, saying: “they make an enormous contribution to our economy, culture and wider society.” Before reaffirming “this government will not reintroduce tuition fees.”