UK's University of Kent Cuts Music Course

The cuts will "support growth in key areas such as business, psychology and biosciences"

The University at Kent has cut its music course, as well as courses in anthropology, art history, health and social care, journalism, and philosophy. No new students will be accepted for those courses, although there will be provision for current students to complete their degrees.

A number of jobs will inevitably be cut, though the university is yet to confirm how many staff are on the chopping block.

The university cited financial concerns as being the driving factor behind the decision. Since Brexit, it has faced a decline in the number of foreign students applying for its courses. Over the last eight years, the university's ranking has fallen 26 places in the Complete University Guide.

"We will now be working with affected staff to talk through their options as a result of [the cuts], including confirming the resources required to support students on these courses with teaching and supervision to the end of their degrees," the university wrote in a statement.

"These changes will also support growth in key areas such as business, psychology and biosciences, and sit alongside broader strategic plans at Kent to ensure we put students at the heart of everything we do."

"This is another blow for Music in Higher Education, and a blow in particular for the provision of degree-level music in the Kent region," wrote Music HE, the UK’s subject association for music in higher education.

"It is also part of a wider assault on university education as we know it...what we have learnt about the change at Kent is anything but humane."