The University of Sussex has begun a 45-day consultation over plans to cut at least 200 jobs as it looks to save around £35 million from its annual spend. The university said the proposals could affect academic and professional services staff, including people working in admissions, student support and IT.

Sussex said it is looking to cut 200 full-time equivalent posts, while the union Unison said the total number of staff affected could reach 240. That figure includes 17 jobs at the university’s students’ union and 12 at the Institute of Development Studies, widening the impact beyond the main campus workforce.

The new round of cuts lands after a year in which around 500 workers left the university through a voluntary redundancy scheme. Unison said that had already left staff stretched, and that the latest plan would deepen strain and uncertainty for those still in post.

Vice-chancellor Sasha Roseneil said the university was facing the “continued need to make very difficult decisions” to deal with a financial sustainability crisis affecting UK higher education. She linked the pressure to long-term underfunding of teaching and research, ongoing inflation and a steep fall in international students caused by government policy changes.

Roseneil said the university had already significantly reduced expenditure through non-pay savings since 2023-24, but that “many” more savings were still needed. She said Sussex had “a deeply committed community of staff and students” and that she was “very sorry” the institution had not avoided the announcement of job losses. She added that the process would not distract from the university’s focus on giving students a “rich, inspirational and high-quality education” and supporting staff in research.

Unison regional organiser Jo Galloway said staff had “endured wave after wave of cuts and uncertainty”, and warned it was unacceptable to ask remaining employees to carry heavier workloads after hundreds of colleagues had gone. She said universities could not “cut their way to stability” while expecting staff and students to pay the price.

The union said the proposals would cause “huge anxiety” across the higher education sector and the south east, and pledged to do all it could to protect staff and prevent job losses. For students, the concern is immediate: cuts to admissions, support and IT can change the day-to-day experience long before the final headcount is settled.

The next step is the consultation itself, where the university will try to turn a broad savings target into a final staffing plan that can withstand the pressure on teaching, research and student services. The question now is not whether Sussex is under strain; it is how much more of the university can be pared back before the damage reaches the classrooms and services students rely on every day.