Transformation Programme

We are building our future for the benefit of our students, staff, partners, and the wider community. 

Goldsmiths, like many universities, is navigating a challenging financial landscape. We need to become financially sustainable whilst delivering exceptional student experiences and improving working environments for our staff. 

As we change, we continue to be fully committed to the arts, humanities and social sciences as core elements of our educational offer. These disciplines are vital to helping us understand an increasingly complex and challenging world and in building the social innovation we are known for. 

The Transformation Programme is being delivered through six workstreams which address cost savings and enhancing quality through improving efficiency, reviewing our offer and evaluating our processes.

Renewing our academic offer

A key part of the Transformation Programme has been a review of our academic offer, to make sure it is relevant to a changing world and the needs of students.

Portfolio reviews form part of our ongoing planning and are a necessary part of our strategic development. The latest review considered programmes and modules with small numbers of students enrolled on them to create space for the development of new programmes in key growth areas, as well as improve the experience for those already studying with us. 

The review has been driven by academic departments, with individuals who have the necessary discipline-specific expertise informing the College’s decision-making.  

Throughout this process the College has been mindful of its commitment to diversity and inclusion, including its duty to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between every section of the community. To this end the College has ringfenced specific courses which demonstrate this commitment to equality, by examining the history and literature of minoritised communities and their struggle for justice.

What this means for students 

As a result of this review, some students continuing their studies at Goldsmiths from autumn 2024 will see changes in their programmes or modules. Goldsmiths has told students about this and we will soon be publishing an online guide which will contain more detailed information. 

Students will be able to search by programme and year of study to find information on module selections, results, graduation and any programme changes.

In the meantime, if students have specific queries about programmes or what they might need to do before the end of term they can contact Personal Tutors or Programme Leads. Your School Hub can help you find the right contact if needed. 

Where it is relevant, the College will be writing directly to some students to outline specific changes to programmes and/or modules as part of our responsibilities under the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) and our Student Protection Plan.  

We will keep students informed in the event of wider changes arising from the Transformation Programme which impact on student experiences directly.

Sustainable finances

As part of our work to secure the College's future, we need to lower our spending to ensure we are financially sustainable. We have secured some £10.1 million in savings through a range of measures but need to go further. 

Regrettably, we have had to propose redundancies in academic departments to lower our costs. 

Staffing costs make up 62% of our expenditure, or £85.7 million, which is well above the sector average. While we recognise the importance of investing in our staff this level of spend is unaffordable and unsustainable.

The collective consultation process, which began on 19 March 2024, has now concluded. For 65 days Goldsmiths consulted with its recognised trade unions and staff on ways and means of avoiding redundancies, reducing the number of redundancies and mitigating their consequences.  

Goldsmiths entered the consultation with an open mind and with a view to reaching agreement. The consultation was extended twice to allow recognised trade unions further time to consider information and respond.   

The College also engaged in an extensive workforce engagement and consultation exercise, from which all feedback and counter proposals have been carefully considered. 

The feedback received has led to some significant changes in relation to decision-making and process. Colleagues have been thanked for their willingness to constructively put forward proposals that support sustainable futures. 

The College is now proceeding to the next stage of individual consultation, which will include the provisional selection for redundancy of staff in affected departments.