To Professor Lisa Roberts, President and Vice Chancellor; Professor Dan Charman, Senior Vice-President and Provost; Professor Gareth Stansfield, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean for Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; Imelda Rogers, Deputy Registrar and Executive Divisional Director of Human Resources; David Stacey, Chief Financial Officer; Quentin Woodley, Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council
We are representatives of subject associations and learned societies concerned with Classics and Ancient History, writing on behalf of colleagues across the UK, to express our concern and dismay at the University of Exeter’s proposals to make substantial academic redundancies within its Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). Particularly troubling is that these cuts are directed not at underperforming areas, but at disciplines that have consistently demonstrated excellence in research, teaching, and impact. Several of the affected departments, including Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology, rank among the strongest in the UK according to established measures such as the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), and national and international league tables.
The proposal to reduce academic staff in Classics and Ancient History by two full-time equivalent posts may seem modest when viewed against a total establishment of twenty FTE. But it must be understood in the context of the department’s recent history. Staffing has already been reduced recently through voluntary severance and retirement by a further three FTE. The current proposals therefore represent a cumulative loss of approximately one-fifth of the subject’s academic capacity within a relatively short period. A period in which student numbers have risen, moreover, so that staff-student ratios have already taken a serious hit.
These proposals are particularly alarming because they affect one of the UK’s most distinguished and innovative centres for the study of the ancient world. Exeter’s Classics provision has earned an exceptional international reputation, in areas from Classical reception to Ancient Science, Latin literature, classical archaeology to digital humanities and more. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, the department ranked fourth in the UK for world-leading (4*) Classics research, while 100% of its research impact was assessed as internationally excellent or world-leading. Since then, colleagues have been awarded major grants by the AHRC/DfG, ERC, Leverhulme, UKRI and Wellcome. The last two are, moreover, for innovative interdisciplinary projects operating across the humanities and sciences and tackling key questions around changing histories, concepts and cultures of disease, health and the environment.
These are questions and issues which the University of Exeter itself, in its Strategy 2030 focus on health and sustainability, has said it prioritises; yet these researchers are now at risk of redundancy. Meanwhile, the wider impact of Classics and Ancient History research at Exeter has been repeatedly recognised. For example, Classics and Public Policy: Perspectives from the United Kingdom (May 2026) is the first publication dedicated to the study and application of Classics in and for policy communities across the UK, and it includes a significant proportion of Exeter contributions, with three chapters by colleagues and a fourth by a UG/PGT alumna. Notably, Exeter is also singled out in the volume’s introduction as a centre for this kind of work, underscoring the department’s nationally recognised impact. Taken together, this evidence demonstrates that Exeter Classics and Ancient History is at the forefront of developing co-created, transdisciplinary research agendas that are essential for addressing current societal challenges.
Exeter Classics and Ancient History is also ranked fifth in the UK for Classics in the Complete University Guide 2027 and has been consistently in the top 50 in international QS rankings. These are both indicators of strengths in teaching, student learning experience and employability, as well as research, impact and global esteem. Undergraduate student numbers have been rising: the number of entrants increased 17.6% last year, in the context of a roughly 8% rise in classics and ancient history admissions in UK Universities overall. Even more impressive is that the Exeter postgraduate research student community is especially thriving at a time when, according to annual data collected by CUCD, the national picture has seen a decrease in postgraduate enrolments. Needless to say, Exeter CAH students, undergraduate, PGT and PGRs will be devastated by these announcements.
The proposed cuts are especially concerning in light of the regional context. The British Academy has identified South West England as a major cold spot for the study of arts, humanities and social sciences (SHAPE subjects), including Classics and Ancient History. In regions where opportunities to study these subjects are already limited, it is therefore particularly important that universities are able to offer high-quality provision. Such provision depends not only on the excellence of individual scholars but also on preserving the mass of academic expertise required to deliver a broad and intellectually ambitious curriculum. Significant reductions in staffing consequently threaten precisely those qualities that have made Exeter a national and international leader in Classics, while diminishing educational opportunities in a region that can least afford to lose them.
The arts, humanities and social sciences should be absolutely central to the University’s mission. They generate cultural, social, and economic value while equipping graduates with critical, analytical, linguistic, creative and leadership skills that employers consistently seek, and the world needs. Universities also serve broader public purposes: their strength lies in intellectual diversity and substantial contraction of HASS risks diminishing the distinctive character that defines Exeter.
We acknowledge that times are difficult in Higher Education, and that management have a responsibility to the whole university community; however, challenges are best met through consultation and collaboration, not diktat. Our Exeter colleagues have plenty of good ideas, indeed have already been working on a range of business initiatives, and on educational provision across other Faculties, but this is all now thrown into doubt. The space for discussion has been closed by these dramatic redundancy proposals before even opening up. So we strongly urge you to continue to support your excellent Classics and Ancient History colleagues in their highly impressive and successful work, to bring them into the discussions rather than reject excluding them. Reputational damage is already occurring, and risks becoming permanent, with the University sliding down the various league tables as a result, but this process can be reversed by quick and supportive action now.
Yours sincerely
Dr Kathryn Tempest (Chair, Council of University Classical Departments)
Prof. Hella Eckardt (President, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies)
Dr Margaret Mountford (President, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies)
Professor Judith Mossman (Chair of the Board of Trustees, Classical Association)
Professor Katherine Harloe (Director, Institute of Classical Studies)
CUCD is delighted to see that the first round of appointments of REF panellists has been announced, including for SP29 (Classics). It’s a great panel, and we offer our congratulations to the following colleagues who have been appointed:
Anne Alwis (Kent)
Bruce Gibson (Liverpool)
James Clackson (Cambridge)
Katharine Earnshaw (Exeter)
Rebecca Sweetman (St Andrews)
Alison Cooley (Warwick)
Peter Liddel (Manchester)
William Allan (Oxford)
In addition, we congratulate Joanna Phillips (Leeds) on her appointment as panel secretary. This follows the earlier welcome news that the panel will be steered by Katherine Harloe (Chair) and Catherine Steel (Deputy Chair).
A reminder to colleagues across the UK that the REF process has two stages: the criteria-setting phase and the assessment phase. The appointments announced today represent only part of the full sub-panel that will carry out the final assessment.
The second phase of recruitment is expected in 2027, once universities have provided more detailed information about their submission intentions within each Unit of Assessment. This phase aims to ensure a broad range of disciplinary expertise across the sub-panel.
We strongly encourage colleagues from all areas of Classics to consider applying in this next round. CUCD will share further information as soon as it becomes available.
cc. Academic Senate, Teaching and Learning Director for Faculty of Arts, Professor Albert Atkin, and Executive Dean of Faculty of Arts, Professor Chris Dixon.
I am writing as Chair of the Council of University Classical Departments to express our collective concern at reports that Macquarie University is planning to make dramatic reductions in its provision of courses in Ancient History, Archaeology and Ancient Languages.
The CUCD is the UK subject association for university classics departments in the UK representing more than 30 departments or other units within which classical subjects are taught. In this area we correspond to the Society of Classical Studies in the US and to the Australasian Society for Classical Studies (ASCS) in Australia and New Zealand. We have close links with Australian classics as many Australian scholars teach in the UK and vice versa, and graduate students often move between the two countries. Macquarie University has ten exchange partnerships in the UK for students opting to take Study Abroad opportunities, and Academic collaborations and publications also draw us together.
I am writing because we are very surprised indeed, and concerned, to hear that Macquarie is on the point of discontinuing its dedicated Ancient History and Archaeology courses. Surprised because Macquarie has a world-leading reputation in these subject areas, and its student numbers in these degrees make them thriving and economically viable. Concerned because the proposal sits alongside other planned changes that will impose a ceiling on student achievement.
The Ancient History course at Macquarie is the only degree in Australia offering a full study of Egyptology, Greece, Rome, Late Antiquity and Byzantium. The Archaeology degree provides a bridge between the Arts and Sciences, as well as providing crucial vocational education for field archaeology. Employers appreciate the unusually wide range of skills the subjects teach, and many employers appreciate that in the future they will need flexible and fast learners. The Ancient History and Archaeology degrees at Macquarie produce just that: both courses were reviewed for accreditation in 2024 and were highly praised by fellow academics, industry partners, and alumni on review panels.
Language studies also contribute to the employability of Macquarie graduates and they facilitate further work in many fields. Latin in particular is a route into medical history, historical linguistics, as well as mediaeval and early modern history. We understand that the proposal is not to abolish the subjects but to include them within a Bachelor of History. But the divestment of the BA and MA courses in Ancient History and Archaeology, coupled with the planned closure of its Ancient Languages program, will significantly detract from the University’s reputation for producing graduates of the highest quality. It will also hopelessly jeopardize the prospects of Macquarie graduates who want to embark on PhD or teacher training courses that require competence in languages or ancient history.
CUCD understands that all universities need to take stock periodically of their teaching portfolios, and we also appreciate the pressure under which Australia’s university sector is operating more generally. However, our experience in the UK, and we are certain the same is true elsewhere, is that the loss of any one sub discipline hampers the others. As we become more and more interdisciplinary in our teaching and research these specialisms have a new significance that require protection. We believe that the proposal of a single Bachelors in History that replaces degrees in subject areas as diverse as ancient history, archaeology, and modern history not only privileges the study of the latter; it also fails to appreciate the distinct reputation Macquarie holds as an environment for ancient history and archaeological research.
For all these reasons we urge the University to pause the current process, to consult more widely across the subject areas affected, and to pull back from the current proposal of a single Bachelors of History that removes entirely the option of studying the ancient languages.
Yours sincerely
Dr Kathryn Tempest
Chair, Council of University Classical Departments
Statement of Solidarity: UK Classics representative bodies deplore attacks on Arts and Humanities across Higher Education institutions
As a united group comprising Chairs and Presidents of the primary representative bodies for Classics professionals in the UK – the Council of University Classical Departments, the Classical Association, the Institute of Classical Studies, the Women’s Classical Committee UK, the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, and the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies – we wish to express our solidarity with all those affected by the deeply worrying programme of closures and redundancies in the Arts and Humanities announced this month across institutions, including Bishop Grosseteste, De Montfort, Dundee, Roehampton, and Wolverhampton.
As institutions working in Classics, we deplore, and are angry at, attacks on Classics at Roehampton. The University’s decision to close Classics comes only months after a celebration of 21 years of Classics at Roehampton – two decades of pioneering research and teaching. The University’s research culture has historically stressed and rewarded the production of high-quality academic publications, and many areas of its School of Humanities and Social Sciences have been strong in this regard, notably Classics, which has led the way in terms of the institutional aims around practical humanities, applied research and innovation.
Classics at Roehampton has been at the forefront of world-leading research in feminist and disability studies in Classics, and its closure would be damaging to the discipline as a whole. Roehampton has also been exemplary in creating teaching practices for neurodivergent students in Classics, and the loss of this Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion work sets back efforts in this area, which are of incalculable value to all students. Indeed, major publications are forthcoming from Roehampton Classicists around their projects on Classics and autistic children, involving partners such as English Heritage, Keats House, and Pupil Referral Units. Other important, ongoing, collaborations include the Acropolis Museum, Athens, and Heritage of London’s ‘Proud Places’; these are precisely the kinds of projects and partnerships through which Classics at Roehampton has fantastic potential to develop its already highly successful practical and employability training for students.
Classics at Roehampton, since its inception, has championed employability; as a team it earned the Roehampton Teaching Fellowship for embedding employability into the classical programme, and its research and teaching staff have published around pedagogy and employability in Classics in high quality, peer-reviewed journals and held sessions on student employability at major national and international conferences. This work has blazed a trail, and has directly and positively impacted on the development of comparable initiatives at other institutions. Classics at Roehampton is in fact at the forefront of moving the subject, and by extension the institution, towards practical focused and employability training with potential for exceptional Graduate Outcomes.
More broadly, the effects that these cuts would have on access to Higher Educationare potentially devastating. Classics and Ancient History in particular are far too often considered the preserve of Russell Group institutions with Classics or Greek & Latin departments, whose entrance criteria and history of systemic under-privileging of first-generation students, BAME students, and state-school-educated students are well-known; Roehampton Classics colleagues have in fact been instrumental in working with colleagues in such departments to make headway in terms of inclusion. Classics at Roehampton bucks this entry trend and is already significantly boosting and broadening access to these subjects: Roehampton’s Classics courses were ranked fifth in the UK in the 2020 Guardian league table, one of only two non-Russell Group universities in the top ten for the subject, with exceptionally high scores for teaching satisfaction (96%), on a par with Durham and St. Andrews. In the most recent NSS survey, Classics received a score of 100%, showing colleagues’ outstanding level of successful teaching.
Roehampton has great experience in teaching students who have had little previous formal education in Classics, and who have entered university from less privileged backgrounds. Many of them are the first in their family to go to university. Roehampton Classics is a partner in a growing number of non-RG institutions offering this subject to diverse student bodies, the Post92Classics Network, who are collectively at the heart of invigorating the shape of the discipline for future generations in a changing world; indeed Roehampton Classics is very much a leading light in this regard.
As with Arts and Humanities subjects more broadly, Classics encourages and develops appreciation of cultural, religious and linguistic diversity, while broadening students’ horizons to a global range of philosophical and intellectual outlooks that have influenced modern thought; it teaches critical thinking and analysis of complex source material in a range of languages, and requires students to view humanity through a critical lens, with empathy. Classics in such educational contexts has the transformative power to engage students in discussion around a wide range of cultures, religions, ethnicities, genders, sexualities and disabilities, across huge spans of space and time. These are not soft skills, nor are they fringe topics. They are vital skills and perspectives for modern life, and indeed the cornerstone of good training both for social and civic participation, and for employability.
Studying the Arts and Humanities can be transformative for students: over their time at Roehampton, students expand their cultural horizons, and build their employable and creative skills. Further, they become active, empowered citizens. The University’s stated rationale for its decision to close these subjects is in fact at odds with the likely outcome of this action. The University’s objective in terms of sustainability of programmes in growing fields, especially those with emerging markets of future economy and society, is one which Classics is extremely well positioned to achieve and at which to excel. There is potential here for multidisciplinary work to develop and further embed employability into its teaching, as evidenced by recent programme revalidations, particularly in areas of institutional strategic importance such as Roehampton’s BA in Liberal Arts and its MAs in Cultural Heritage and Environmental Studies.
The loss of any Classics provision will undoubtedly hurt the Classics community as a whole, but the loss of Roehampton in particular would diminish our field, and its potential loss is symptomatic of the damage caused by competition for its own sake, that has been actively encouraged by successive governments. Higher Education departments need time, space, collaboration and long-term team-building to provide an excellent education and student experience. Roehampton Classics has built up such a team and collaborations both national and international, including for example major international AHRC, ERC, DFG, Loeb Foundation and Leverhulme Trust grants. The loss of Classics at Roehampton would leave a massive hole. University management and government higher education policy are together destroying a long-cherished site, like Erysichthon cutting down the grove of Demeter. Such willful destruction of Arts and Humanities in UK Higher Education cannot be allowed to stand.
Signatories:
CUCD, Council of University Classics Departments, Chair: Prof Helen Lovatt
WCC UK, Women’s Classical Committee UK, Co-Chairs: Dr April Pudsey & Dr Ulriika Vihervalli, Administrator: Prof Laurence Totelin
ICS, Institute of Classical Studies, Director: Prof Katherine Harloe
SPHS, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, President: Prof Paul Cartledge
SPRS, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, President: Prof Roy Gibson
CA, Classical Association, Chair of Council: Prof Douglas Cairns
| Comments Off on Open Letter to James Wharton, Chair, Office for Students; Professor Jean-Noël Ezingeard, Vice-Chancellor, University of Roehampton London; Michelle Donelan, Minister of State for Higher and Further Education
The release of the REF 2021 results was followed on 18 May 2022 by the publication of the overview reports for Main Panel D and Sub-panel 29 Classics. These reports offer detailed information on the assessment process and its outcomes. The Classics report comments additionally on the profile of submissions to it and on the general characteristics of the environment statements, impact case studies and outputs it assessed. It also offers some reflection on the status of Classics research in the UK (on the basis of what was submitted to it). These reports may be of use to colleagues for the future.
The Classics overview report concludes (paras 66-69):
Sub-panel 29 has assessed high-quality research that embraces vast sweeps of time (from pre-history to the present), of geography (from the UK and Europe to Africa, Asia and the Americas), of approach (from textual criticism to cognitive psychology), and of primary sources analysed (from pottery to social media networks). This UK-based research is demonstrably in partnership with, and often leads, Classics in the rest of the world and engages with diverse non-academic communities locally and globally.
Sub-panel 29 welcomes the increased inclusion of, and support for, PGRs and ECRs in shaping the future of Classics research. But more attention to EDI is still needed in the recruitment and sustained support of staff, especially as the pandemic will have long-term and unequal effects on their ability to do research.
Classics research has clearly expanded during this REF cycle. Staff increases were reported across a majority of the units submitted to Sub-panel 29. It is gratifying to see that medium-sized units have had the opportunity to excel under the revised terms of this exercise and that the vitality of Classics is manifest across all the units that submitted to Sub-panel 29. Equally encouragingly, Classics research can also be found within more than 20 units that were submitted to other sub-panels by both pre- and post-1992 HEIs.
The growth and vitality of Classics is especially impressive given that the circumstances for producing Arts & Humanities research and impact have never been so difficult. The future sustainability of our discipline, however, depends on structural and financial security and support.
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