500 signatures reached
To: University of Essex Senior Management and Council
Save Essex: Stop the Cuts, Save Southend, Protect Education
Save Essex: Stop the Cuts, Save Southend, Protect Education
University of Essex management plans to close the Southend campus and cut up to 400 jobs across its campuses in Colchester and Southend — around one in five staff.
These decisions are already hitting students and staff, and the worst impacts are still to come. Departments face losing large portions of academic staff - or shutting down altogether - with no clear plan for how teaching or student support will be delivered next year.
Management says these cuts are unavoidable. That isn’t true.
Staff and trade unions have put forward serious, fully costed alternatives that would avoid compulsory redundancies, save the Southend campus, and protect teaching and research. These proposals have not been properly considered. Decisions of enormous consequence are being taken behind closed doors, without transparency and without the people who make the university work.
Staff are now taking strike action as a last resort, after months of being ignored. This disruption is not what anyone wants — but it reflects the depth of anger and concern about the future of Essex.
Why is this important?
These proposed cuts mean people losing their livelihoods in a higher education sector already facing a jobs crisis, where alternative employment is scarce and careers built over many years can be destroyed overnight.
For students, the consequences are overcrowded classes, delayed feedback, reduced support, and mounting pressure on remaining staff.
The closure of Southend would also be a devastating loss for students, local communities, and access to higher education in the region.
All of this undermines the value of an Essex degree, and damages the university’s reputation.
Essex is a public institution with a public mission. Its future should not be decided without accountability, evidence, or meaningful negotiation.
We call on University of Essex senior management and Council to:
We call on University of Essex senior management and Council to:
• Stop compulsory redundancies at all campuses
• Halt the closure of the Southend campus
• Return to meaningful negotiations with staff and their unions
The more people who sign this petition, the clearer it becomes that Essex staff are not standing alone — and that management must come back to the table.