Students at Goldsmiths, University of London, have marked one month of occupying their university library in protest against cost-cutting measures that have put 269 staff members at risk of redundancy. The 'Free Goldsmiths' movement began its 24-hour occupation of the library in Lewisham on April 19, with students taking overnight shifts to sleep there in solidarity with university staff.
Staff at Risk
Among those facing job losses are academics, cleaners, security personnel, and maintenance staff—all essential to the daily operations of the university. Goldsmiths, a top-10 London university renowned for its creative and cultural approach to degrees in arts, humanities, and social sciences, is under threat as management seeks £22 million in cuts by the end of the 2026/27 academic year.
A Goldsmiths spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the university operates in a "disrupted environment defined by declining enrolment," with student numbers falling by more than a quarter in the last five years. The spokesperson added: "Moreover, the funding, regulatory and policy context in England puts additional pressure on Goldsmiths because of our location in London and our academic offer. Without purposeful redesign, our institution will continue to face a structural financial deficit and an operating model that is not aligned with future learners, regulatory expectations or the pressing realities of our sector."
Third Round of Restructuring
Joe Newman, co-president of Goldsmiths University and College Union (GUCU) and a lecturer in the music department, said this is the third round of redundancies and restructuring in five years. He stated: "It's the biggest in terms of it impacting, right now, around one in four staff from professional services primarily, though also some academics. They are looking to make more academics redundant in the autumn term. For some reason that we can't quite fathom, management are intent on trying to save £22 million in total—of which £20 million will be from staff cuts. The reason why we're so confused about the large figure is they tried to save £20 million two years ago, during what they called the transformation programme where they saved £16.1 million."
Newman emphasized the long-term damage: "If you cut a programme or if you sack a staff member, you don't get that expertise back overnight. It takes years, sometimes decades to build that kind of community of students and learning in a particular area. And it's what's happened already this year in some of those areas that have been axed completely behind the scenes. The changes have gone through committees that have kind of signed it off, but the university hasn’t really engaged staff, students or unions at all—even though we've been pushing to be involved in those decisions all year."
Occupation Continues
Luca Di Ambro-Moor, a sociology student involved in the occupation, told the LDRS that a 'notice to vacate' was allegedly placed on one of the library doors a few weeks ago. The LDRS asked Goldsmiths about this but received no response. Di Ambro-Moor said: "We're going [to occupy the library] for as long as we can. We had a notice to vacate that was put on the door a few weeks ago, but since that we've had nothing more. We're kind of calling their bluff in a way and waiting for them to try and take out an injunction because obviously we're in a library that you're allowed to study in for 24 hours. We're waiting them out and we'll keep doing this and organising around this issue."
Di Ambro-Moor described the situation as personally "devastating" and feels caught in a "chaotic cycle of cuts." His current undergraduate course in sociology and politics closed two years ago, leaving him as one of only three students remaining in the final cohort. His plans to study a Masters in Sociology have also been cut short, as Goldsmiths reportedly plans to cut 90 of its 190 postgraduate courses. He added: "I've been here since 2022 and so this is the third programme of cuts that I've seen at Goldsmiths. During the last time, most of my department was made redundant, so to have it happen again is quite shocking."
Impact on Students and Staff
Serena Yip, studying a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Curating, expressed concerns: "One of the main concerns is that as the second largest workforce in Lewisham, a lot of the cuts are targeting people of colour and we've had staff coming in crying to us, they've been telling us they've been losing nights of sleep. Some of the staff are also disabled, they're also carers of their own families which makes it very, very difficult for them to be employed anywhere else."
Yip noted that during the 137-day occupation of Deptford Town Hall led by Goldsmiths Anti-Racist Action (GARA) in 2019, campaigners successfully fought for cleaners and security workers to become in-house staff instead of being outsourced. However, she says current demands are being "completely ignored" by management, as these workers are "at risk again."
Yip and others allege that on the same day the notice to vacate was issued, an exhibition forming part of an end-of-year assessment had been "torn down" just a few hours before the opening night. Goldsmiths did not respond to this allegation. Yip said: "We have a lot of anxiety about how this university is kind of becoming a very hostile environment for students to express their political views through art and if this would manifest into a practice of political censorship at Goldsmiths. We suspect it might also be targeted towards some of us students in BA Curating as some of the students are also occupiers who are occupying for Free Goldsmiths right now."
Jen Crossan, a part-time anthropology student who has been at Goldsmiths since 2022, said the situation is very "anxiety-ridden" for students because "you don't really know what's going to happen." She added: "I think a lot of us are really unsure of how exactly the university and the courses are going to run with this kind of massive cut of lecturers. We still don't know the full details of what it means for courses and students, but from experience we have an idea."
University Response
A spokesperson for Goldsmiths said: "The Future Goldsmiths programme provides an integrated institution-wide plan to deliver long-term financial sustainability while preparing Goldsmiths for a transformed academic and operating environment. Goldsmiths is recognised and celebrated around the world, with a reputation and legacy that is the envy of many others across the UK and internationally. We are known for the unique contribution we make to education and society and culture more broadly. As we go through these changes, we will continue centering our students and their interests, outcomes, and experience to make sure they receive the best support possible to help achieve their ambitions."
