Thank you! Would this expenditure category include research spending? Yes, you are right about the SFC value - I found this in a technical guidance document.

Hello. I realise this isn't your article, but might you know where the estimated cost data comes from? I can't find it anywhere, so is it an estimate the newspaper has created itself?

iconic

I think we have those stories! I think we have lots of those stories! We should be louder about telling them. /end

If our answer is about teaching, though, we need to communicate better about what we bring to modern British society. How having citizens and workers with a rigorous training in chemistry is something we want to protect (and even grow). 11/

And perhaps after a year the question I am left with is "what does Chemistry give society?" If our main answer is about the research chemists do, then perhaps an elite model of HE is sufficient to deliver this. Closing Hull was ok because Oxford is still open. 10/

But not a lot of noise from Government. The skills White Paper seems to be signalling a shrinking of the HE sector, though it has not pointed strongly at mechanisms for managing this decline. The international student levy would likely wipe out the (predicted-)inflation fees increase. 9/

The thing which brings me the most hope is how University finances are now a very important thread in national news reporting, including Serious Economist platforms like Bloomberg. 8/ www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

And the British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social has done an amazing piece of mapping for SHAPE subjects here. 7/ www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Chemistry isn't the only subject in a difficult position. Physics @iop.org got coverage in the Guardian with their (very sensible) proposal for a way forward. www.theguardian.com/education/20... 6/

For people who want the policy detail, a really good summary is collected here. 5b/ www.rsc.org/policy-and-c...

The most hopeful response I have seen from the Royal Society of Chemistry @rsc.org this year is the surge in policy work they are directing at this issue. A "cold spot" argument is a clear and well-judged line, in my view. 5a/ www.chemistryworld.com/news/chemist...

Less prominent in the Chemistry reporting (to my knowledge) has been the enormous growth of voluntary severance schemes in UK Universities. Some of them are mentioned in this @qmucu.bsky.social list. 4/ qmucu.org/qmul-transfo...

Closures are not the only option, and there are also stories of Departments being consolidated into Schools. 3/ www.chemistryworld.com/news/cardiff...

First, other Universities are singing similar songs. The professional magazine for Chemistry @chemistryworld.com published a string of articles describing the ones happening in public. 2/ www.chemistryworld.com/news/chemist...