Wolverhampton students 'worried' as university suspends recruitment to 138 courses

Current students on the courses will be able to finish their studies as planned, but the undergraduate and postgraduate courses affected will not enrol any new students for the forthcoming academic year.

Many of these are performing arts courses, but music and digital production arts have also been hit hard.

Courses that are halting recruitment across all campuses include: fashion, media, interior design, furniture design, product design, and fine art (MA).

Thomas O'Neill has just finished his three year degree in Furniture Design at the university and had applied to do an MA in Design and Applied Art, which will now no longer go ahead.

The 21-year-old from Northamptonshire said: "I'm quite annoyed and to be honest, I'm quite upset. I can't believe they've done this.

"I'd already put my application in for my course and I'd pretty much been accepted onto it. I knew my grades were good enough.

"Now I'll have to look at other courses and going somewhere else, but you get a loyalty discount if you stay at the same university. Realistically, that's the only way I can do this course.

"Going somewhere else would mean paying thousands more which I don't have."

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, was planning to pursue further study at the university within its science and engineering department, but is now concerned about the university's future.

The student said: "I'm sorry to hear this. It makes me think about the future of the university and I'm really worried about it.

"I was planning to study a PhD here but now I'm not sure because I'm not sure what the future looks like here.

"The uni isn't the same as before, and now I understand things that have happened here recently such as staff leaving or saying they would if they could get a job elsewhere."

Many students had not yet heard the news and received no notification from the university.

One anonymous student said: "I hadn't heard anything about this. I assume there are costs and financially it must make sense."

Taylor Jefimik, a 25-year-old creative writing student, said: "It's quite sad, a lot of courses are being dropped.

"As far as I'm aware it's not affecting creative writing, but it's hitting a lot of arts courses.

"One of the people I work with, her daughter wanted to do drama here, but now she'll have to look somewhere else."

The university is now embarking on a “robust recovery action plan” which is understood to have included an internal cost-saving exercise.

Staff are also being offered voluntary severance payments under a “mutually agreed resignation scheme”.

A member of staff, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “We are all shocked by the sweeping course suspensions and hope to be given the opportunity to address them, but at the moment we have no more info than the courses that have been suspended in our individual faculties. I hope the E&S will continue to support our student voice. Thank you.”