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Higher Education
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Yet more attacks on language learning and the further removal of opportunities for people to benefit from the enrichment such study brings. Shameful. Language and inter-cultural understanding are so valuable, and more important these days than ever. This is another university in Wales which claims to be proactively bilingual in a bilingual but then wants to cut language programmes. Mixed messages and rank hypocrisy. I'm sorry tech bros, but no, AI is not going to replace language learning. There's still a need for it and it should be valued.
David, supported: Stop cuts to Modern Languages at Bangor UniversityAs a Bangor Uni Modern Languages alumna (2013), I am shocked and saddened by this decision. Languages are vital for all aspects of a global society, not only through economic contribution, but also building cultural understanding and empathy which is so sorely needed. A bilingual university in particular should know better!
Ruth, supported: Stop cuts to Modern Languages at Bangor UniversityBangor’s Modern Languages Department was like home to me for many years, and its staff felt like an extended family. I began my undergraduate degree in French in 2011 and later added Italian as a second language at beginners’ level. Fast forward to 2025, and I have spent the best part of a decade at Bangor, completing a Master’s in European Languages and Cultures in 2018 and a PhD in Italian Studies in 2023.
Modern Languages gave me my first real teaching opportunity in British academia: I started as an hourly paid tutor in Italian and later worked for four years as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Italian, as well as a Languages for All tutor in both French and Italian. Thanks to the Department, I also met my future wife, and in 2025 we welcomed our Welsh-Italian son.
To hear that Bangor is proposing drastic cuts to Modern Languages is deeply disappointing. During my time at the university, I witnessed first-hand the impact of previous cuts — a significantly reduced workforce strained morale and made it more difficult to deliver quality education, not to mention the increased workload on those who remained (particularly PhD students). That another round of cuts and restructuring is now being proposed is, frankly, scandalous.
Equally concerning is the proposal to eliminate entire language programmes. Italian was taught at Bangor for decades and, not long ago, was ranked #1 in the UK for Italian studies. Its loss will be deeply felt. Cutting German and Chinese is no less troubling — the university invested heavily in developing Chinese partnerships, and the German team brought considerable expertise and strength. It is also impractical to cut French and Spanish staff — there is a wealth of evidence showing that workloads in Modern Languages departments are significant. Downsizing while demanding more from the remaining staff is detrimental to delivering high-quality degrees.
The threat to the Languages for All programme is also a serious loss. This initiative provided invaluable opportunities for both students and members of the wider community to learn languages at all levels, enhancing the university’s outreach and public engagement. Curtailing or eliminating this provision limits access to language learning in a region that already offers few such opportunities.
I won’t list all the benefits of studying Modern Languages, as my colleagues and fellow petition signers will undoubtedly have done this more eloquently. However, I will add that recent political shifts between the UK and EU may reopen doors for initiatives like a new Youth Mobility Scheme. The removal of Erasmus after Brexit deprived a generation of students of the chance to live and study abroad — experiences that were fundamental to my own development. Renewed international engagement could revitalise interest in languages and make them a more attractive recruitment prospect once again.
I urge the university to follow the example of institutions like Cardiff University, which chose to expand language provision despite financial pressures. Alternatively, I encourage the Executive Committee to seek external support, as my current university in Dundee successfully did to mitigate even more severe proposed cuts.
Ultimately, ongoing deep cuts to the organic fabric of the university community are unsustainable. They haven’t worked in the past, and I fear they won’t work now. I call on the Executive to find alternative solutions — to support not only my former colleagues in Modern Languages, but the wider university as well.
Gareth, supported: Stop cuts to Modern Languages at Bangor UniversityThis is a shameful proposal, especially for a bilingual university. The world needs better communication and more skilled communicators now than ever. Languages enrich, expand, and strengthen our bonds with others.
Victoria, supported: Stop cuts to Modern Languages at Bangor UniversityWe in Cardiff University have already seen our language provision gutted. I am standing in solidarity with my colleagues in Bangor. The cuts to languages in Welsh HE is a national embarrassment and the Welsh government needs to step in.
Alastair, supported: Stop cuts to Modern Languages at Bangor UniversityHow can we help our students become global citizens if our universities don't allow students to develop their knowledge of other languages and cultures. There ARE ways to keep language provision going in difficult times by being more commercial with what we offer rather than closing courses and Languages for All programmes. So sad to see another institution making a short-sighted decision.
Jo, supported: Stop cuts to Modern Languages at Bangor UniversityWelsh history is important, and a campus as deeply rooted as this doesn't deserve to be erased like so much of Welsh history has been!
Terrence, supported: Save Undergraduate Education at Wales’s Historic Lampeter CampusAnother example as to why mergers are a disaster zone especially in education. As a former student, I can remember Lampeter being acknowledged as one of the finest theological and archaeological institutions in Europe let alone the UK. Upon revisiting the university in 2022 I was taken aback by just how badly neglected it had become with playing courts removed and much of the student accommodation being unoccupied. Along with the lack of investment in the university itself, this has had a detrimental effect on the town which has slowly declined with the university since the merger and subsequently had a profound negative economic, social and cultural impact. I can see no justification for moving the courses other than to say that I believe the future of Lampeter lies in rediscovering its true qualities and mission as a wholly independent institution.
Ian, supported: Save Undergraduate Education at Wales’s Historic Lampeter CampusI was an international student in Lampeter from 2004 to 2007. The time I spent there is one of the highlights of my life. There's a serenity to the place that I haven't found anywhere else, and the town was so safe that I could go for a walk alone at midnight without a care in the world. Lampeter is a uniquely ideal location for higher learning, and that alone makes it beyond puzzling to see a decision to take that away. Where else are you going to find such a peaceful, friendly, welcoming, and safe atmosphere for your academic pursuits?
Jeff, supported: Save Undergraduate Education at Wales’s Historic Lampeter CampusLampeter is a unique place to learn. As a quiet, rural location Lampeter gives students who do not wish to live in a high populous area a peaceful environment to learn in.
I would always recommend Lampeter as a place to study, having done so myself for three years. It would be a crying shame for Lampeter to loose the ability to provide undergraduate students the chance to flourish within the beautiful Welsh countryside.
Chris, supported: Save Undergraduate Education at Wales’s Historic Lampeter CampusYou’re not alone — a community of supporters is ready to back you.
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