Plans to cut language degrees were 'rushed' - review

The University of Aberdeen's plans to scrap modern languages degrees were "hurried", a review has found.

The institution blamed a steep fall in the number of students studying modern languages when it initially said the courses could be scrapped in 2023.

It later said it would continue to offer t honour degree programmes, but not single honours programmes.

A review into how the situation has been handled, commissioned by the university, found decision-making was unstructured and dominated by finances. The university said it accepted there had been "missteps".

The university had also cited high staff numbers relative to students as a reason for the plans.

The proposals, which emerged in November 2023, sparked anger among both students and staff.

French, Gaelic, German and Spanish degrees were at the heart of the debate.

More than 13,000 people signed a petition opposing the cuts, and protests were held.

The university then said the views of staff and students had been listened to and then confirmed it would continue to offer t honour degree programmes.

The review of how the situation was handled was carried out by Prof Greg Gordon, head of the university's School of Law.

It concluded decision-making was "hurried, unstructured, and dominated by immediate financial considerations".

Broader considerations - including impacts on staff and students - and the risk of reputational damage were said to have not been given adequate weight in the process.

Communications were described as "at times firm and apparently lacking in empathy".

Prof Gordon said that after "careful consideration" of all the information, he found several areas within the process which could have been improved on.

Recommendations included that more time should be taken over similar decisions in future, and that staff and students should be more involved in the process.

He added that the fact the institution was ultimately willing to recognise issues was a positive feature which deserved recognition.

The university said in a statement: "The review was commissioned to help us identify areas for improvement and meet best practice.

"We fully accept that there were some missteps during the early stage of the change management process in late 2023 and we took swift action to address this."

The statement added that the senior management team welcomed the outcome of the review, and fully accepted the recommendations.