Norwich art school funding cut

Steve DownesNorfolk's newest university has been hit with a big funding cut. Norwich University College of the Arts (Nuca) heard today that it will get 2.9pc less money in 2010/11 than this year.Steve Downes

Norfolk's newest university has been hit with a big funding cut. Norwich University College of the Arts (Nuca) heard today that it will get 2.9pc less money in 2010/11 than this year.

The Redwell Street institution, which became a university in 2008, is among scores of places that will see their funding reduced after an announcement by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Sarah Hamilton, Nuca's director of marketing, said: 'This has been expected and we've been planning accordingly to adjust our spending while making sure students are not affected.

'It is incredibly frustrating, though, because applications for our courses are up 71pc on last year, which is ahead of the national average of 18.26pc

'It's an exciting time because people clearly want to come here and like the fact that we are specialist. But we are not able to convert all the applicants into students.'

The University of East Anglia said it could not rule out cuts after hearing it would get 0.1pc less than in 2009/10 - which amounts to a larger reduction in real terms when inflation is taken into account.

UEA dips from �57.117m to �57.075, while Nuca goes down from �6.834m in 2009/10 to �6.641 for 2010/11.

Universities have been bracing themselves for bad news since the beginning of February, when the funding council said overall money would be reduced by �449m.

Prof Tom Ward, pro-vice-chancellor (academic) at UEA, said that the reduction was 'not unexpected'.

He said: 'We believe that this is a very unfortunate time for Britain to reduce investment in higher education, when universities deliver the economic and social value that is vital to the success of the UK.'

He said: 'We remain committed to ensuring that the excellent teaching we give the students will not be affected. That means safeguarding frontline services for our students, while looking to make efficiency savings where we can.

'Sustained cuts will force all universities into making difficult choices. We cannot rule anything out in the long term, but we have recently expanded our number of academic posts and our priority is to maintain this level of teaching staff numbers.'

t Are you set to miss out on a university place? Call Steve Downes on 01603 772495 or email steve.downes@archant.co.uk.