Queen's University Belfast criticised for opening campus in Gujarat's GIFT city amid job cuts

A union alleged that the university receives public funding from Stormont, i.e. the Irish government, and is using it to fund redundancies in Belfast while expanding abroad.

Queen's University Belfast, which is set to open a campus in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gujarat, was criticised for expanding abroad while cutting jobs through redundancy.

According to a report in the BBC, the university had announced 270 job cuts in Northern Ireland through a voluntary redundancy scheme, while also announcing the plans for the GIFT City campus, a move which was heavily criticised by the University and College Union, which represents many lecturers and support staff.

The union alleged that the university receives public funding from Stormont, i.e. the Irish government, and is using it to fund redundancies in Belfast while expanding abroad.

The university refuted the claims, stating that the decisions were taken due the financial deficit it was facing, while also experiencing a "sharp decline" in international students. It added that the redundancy scheme was voluntary.

Queen's announced last month that it is set to become the first UK Russell Group university to open a campus in the GIFT City, with the first cohort of students expected to start in January 2026.

"This commitment represents a significant milestone and cements Queen’s position as a leading global university that is committed to fostering international collaborations. It feeds directly into Queen’s’ Strategy 2030, in which building partnerships and collaborations around the world is a key priority for the coming years," It said in its statement, adding, "the new campus will help reinforce partnerships and opportunities for innovation with local industry, government and business sectors across India and Northern Ireland."

The redundancy scheme was announced in Octobet 2024, according to BBC, who added that the 270 redundancies in Belfast were over 5 per cent of the university's workforce.

A BBC report also noted that Queen's University Belfast (QUB) was facing a deficit of more than £11m for FY2024-25.

The union alleged that the university was "directing taxpayer money into axing jobs in Northern Ireland while creating them on foreign shores."

"It is scandalous that QUB is putting massive amounts of money into a new campus halfway round the world all the while axing jobs in Belfast," UCU general secretary Jo Grady told the BBC.

The university however, stated that the funding from Stormont did not cover the costs of home students from Northern Ireland.

QUB acting chief people officer Alistair Finlay told BBC, "We have done everything we can to engage with the trade unions in this whole discussion so that everybody can understand what is driving this but we need to balance our income."

He stated that Queen's was investing between £5m-£7m in the new campus.