Percival Everett, the prize-winning novelist, advised graduating students at Wesleyan University last summer: 'I ask nothing more from you than to do what you have been doing. Go out into the fray and keep reading.' His words come at a time when gambling has surpassed reading as a common leisure activity in the US, and concerns about declining reading habits are rising in the UK due to ubiquitous screen-based entertainment. Last week, parliament's education committee called for the National Year of Reading to be extended to a decade to instil the habit in children and young people.
Humanities Under Attack Amid Funding Squeeze
As the 2026 graduation season ends, anger grows over universities targeting humanities for cost-cutting while ministers remain passive. Analysis of 2024 data for the Guardian revealed nearly 4,000 job cuts in SHAPE disciplines (social sciences, humanities, arts). All but 110 were at non-Russell Group universities, which have lower entry requirements and recruit more disadvantaged students, raising fears that some courses could become elite preserves. However, humanities cuts are not confined to one institution type. Exeter plans to cut 150 full-time posts, and Nottingham is set to become the first Russell Group university to withdraw all modern foreign language degrees.
British Academy President Calls It an Emergency
Prof Susan J Smith, president of the British Academy, described the situation as 'an emergency, threatening all subjects,' highlighting 'cold spots' where disciplines risk disappearing. While a review of higher education may not provide a solution, she rightly notes the negative effects of fragmented decision-making. To accountants, courses or departments may be cost centres, but to lecturers, students, and communities, they are cultural resources and repositories of knowledge built over decades, often with local character and relevance.
Student Choices Driven by Education System Changes
No one argues that no course should ever close, but student choices are partly driven by changes further down the education system. The rising popularity of STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) is partly due to Conservative policy promoting them; the decline in teenagers opting for literature links to an unimaginative GCSE curriculum—something a new prime minister with an English degree could address. Universities make their own decisions, but ministers must be upfront about constraints. An expected £100m cut to teaching grants, combined with an international student levy, means a years-long financial squeeze will continue. In this climate, standing up for the value of literature and the humanities should not be left to famous novelists.
