If you have heard about or were around for the Transformation Programme in 2023/24, and the Recovery Programme before that in 2021/22, this may feel all too familiar. Future Goldsmiths is the University's programme of restructuring and redundancies that was announced this academic year, with the aim of completion by March 2027.
The programme includes proposals to reorganise the University, review staffing structures, and make changes to how services and academic activities are delivered. The University has stated that these changes are necessary to address ongoing financial challenges and to place Goldsmiths on a more sustainable footing for the future. According to Goldsmiths, the programme is intended to reduce expenditure, improve financial resilience, and ensure that resources are aligned with their strategic priorities.
This is happening because an operating budgetary deficit for the year has prompted the institution to seek £22 million in recurrent savings within a year. This deficit comes shortly after a similar operating budgetary deficit, which led to the Transformation Programme two years ago. Future Goldsmiths is the third restructure at Goldsmiths in five years. Following Council approval at its meeting on Wednesday 25 March 2026, the University has moved ahead with a restructure that has two stated aims:
Similar to the Transformation Programme, Future Goldsmiths has six workstreams:
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WS1: Professional Services Operating Model
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WS2: Managing Academic Subjects and Enhancing the Portfolio
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WS3: Income Growth and Diversification
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WS4: Student recruitment
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WS5: Financial Culture and Controls
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WS6: Digital and Estates Infrastructure
According to the University, the first two workstreams will deliver £20 million of the £22 million savings target. In practice, this means that a significant proportion of the immediate changes are expected to come from restructuring staff teams and reducing staffing costs in both professional services and academic areas.
The University has stated that the initial phase of restructuring will focus on Professional Services and academic-related areas such as the Centre for Academic
Language and Literacies (CALL), the Graduate School, and Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre (TaLIC), before moving on to academic schools in September. The rationale provided by Goldsmiths is that staffing costs currently account for around 67% of the University's income, compared with a sector average of around 50%, and that staffing expenditure therefore needs to be reduced as part of achieving the savings target.
The University has stated that consultation with staff and trade unions will take place throughout the process and that decisions will be made through processes that are "meaningful, fair, transparent and evidence-based". Trade unions, campaign groups, and many staff and students have questioned whether previous restructuring processes at Goldsmiths have met these standards in practice. Concerns raised challenged the appropriateness and pace of change, the cumulative impact of repeated restructures, the extent to which feedback can meaningfully influence decisions, and the potential consequences for jobs, workloads, educational provision, and the student experience.
As with any restructure, proposals may (or may not) change during consultation, negotiation, or implementation, but the overall direction is that Goldsmiths is seeking to significantly reduce costs while reshaping how the institution operates.
A restructure of this scale will have a direct impact on the people who study and work at Goldsmiths, the people who form the community and bedrock of Goldsmiths. Staff have been and will be affected through jobs being cut and deleted, changes to roles, workloads, job security, management structures, and the services they are expected to deliver.
Students will also be affected through changes to academic programmes, module availability, supervision, student support, administrative services, campus life, and the wider student experience. A restructure of this magnitude will undoubtedly have a profound impact, and it is imperative that individuals are informed rather than having decisions and their impacts imposed upon them. Despite legitimate concerns raised by many members of the Goldsmiths community, students, unions and staff alike, Future Goldsmiths could deepen the impact the Recovery and Transformation Programmes have already had at Goldsmiths.
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