With doubts surrounding its future and facing a huge deficit, Coventry University is seeking to reinvent itself again, but staff inside the institution say changes are being “rushed through” and the restructuring is creating “a lot of unpleasantness”.

The West Midlands institution has often been at the forefront of innovations in the English sector in recent years, known for its targeting of international students as well as expanding into new areas at home and abroad.

But this strategy has left it heavily exposed to changing headwinds, especially reforms to student visas that have hit enrolments from overseas to the point where specially built accommodation blocks now stand empty.

Its accounts, published four months late, have revealed a pre-tax deficit of £59.3 million last year and auditors said that a “material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the group and university’s ability to continue”, given that it is not known whether it will meet student-recruitment or cost-saving targets.

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Having already announced a need to save nearly £100 million, the university said it had to adjust to a new financial reality, with 250 full-time roles at risk of redundancy, although 185 jobs are being created elsewhere in the group.

The pressures have not stopped the university’s risk-taking, however. It announced last week that it has approved a branch campus in India, and has partnered with a Singaporean institution to offer qualifications in the Asian country.

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A new model for teaching is also being adopted that will see campuses across the group move to operating in six-week blocks, with six intakes a year.

“Coventry University has never been afraid to do things differently and believes this approach will support more students to progress and complete their courses and increase student satisfaction,” the institution said in announcing the change.

But staff have warned that the financial uncertainties have made the atmosphere inside the university “awful”.

One staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the restructuring programme has created “quite a lot of unpleasantness between staff as well, because people are competing for jobs outside of their specialism and undercutting each other”. They added: “I’ve never…seen anything like it.”

The academic said the announcement about uncertainty over whether the university can continue had created a sense of “fear” among staff.

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A spokesperson attempted to downplay these worries. “While there will obviously be focus on the auditors’ note, equal focus should be given to the board’s conclusion that we have the financial strength to continue.

“Indeed, a crucial paragraph in the auditors’ opinion states, ‘In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the board of governors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate’.”

Sharon McGuire, president of the university’s University and College Union branch, accused the university of “academic and economic vandalism”.

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She said the new block teaching system was being rushed through alongside a revised curriculum when it was unclear what staff will remain at the university next academic year to implement the changes.

“Why isn’t management being held accountable for this? If you haven’t got happy staff, you’re not going to have happy students…The mood is terrible,” McGuire said. The union has called for the university to sell unused student accommodation buildings before making more staff cuts.

The Coventry spokesperson said that this would require selling buildings at “below value”, which would not “be a sound decision nor support long-term sustainability”.

The spokesperson continued: “We are right on track with the recruitment and savings targets we set and we have been open and transparent in what we faced and what we needed to do. Nothing in our annual report should be a surprise to our lenders, regulator and, importantly, our colleagues.

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“We will record a smaller deficit in this financial year on a path to being able to add to our cash reserves in 2025-26. “The 2023-24 accounts include sales of assets for more than £19 million, an economic decision taken which delivered a gain of more than £4 million to support the group’s financial performance.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com