Championing University Music Toolkit

The last decade has been a bruising, and at times destructive, period for many university music departments in the UK, as indeed it has been for colleagues working across the arts and humanities. While those colleagues that work in specialist arts institutions, such as conservatoires, face their own difficulties and financial pressures, the devastating impact of cuts and recent closures has been particularly acute in the traditional university environment: those institutions in which music courses of all types are delivered in departments, academic schools or dedicated subject areas that are part of a multi-faculty and internally competitive model.

Anyone working as a Head of Music, Programme Director or Admissions Lead will know all too well the kinds of pressures that revolve around the year-to-year focus on student numbers, as the principal source of income and sustainability. In our volatile times and with such a challenging external environment in the UK in particular, few feel confident about the immediate future direction in UK higher education, or indeed for the arts and employment more broadly. But despair is a self-fulfilling if entirely understandable response.

Having supported departments through instances of instability, Music Mark and the Musicians’ Union have collaborated on this toolkit to offer actionable guidance, bringing together what they have observed through advising on threats of closure or staff reduction. This toolkit is not a panacea for these complex challenges, but it is designed to help colleagues on the ground to help fight their corner as effectively as possible. Many of the elements outlined in what follows may be things that you and your team are already working on; perhaps some others are things you would like help to better understand, while others may be things to address in the medium-term. Since every department or subject area is unique in terms of its profile and position relative to its own institutional structures and power dynamics, you will know how best to adapt and apply the tips and advice contained in the toolkit.