By Rose Henderson University of Edinburgh staff began a five-week strike in a dispute over job losses and budget cuts, as tensions over funding ripple through higher education institutions across the UK.

The University and College Union said more than £140m ($185m) in cuts will lead to around 1,800 job losses. The organization said the reductions are the “largest cut in staff” of any Scottish institution and stepped up strikes after 18 months of more limited industrial action failed to shift policy. The university, which employs about 18,000 people, hasn’t put a figure on job losses.

“We must take responsible and sometimes difficult decisions,” Peter Mathieson, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said in a statement. “Using reserves to cover day-to-day outgoings is not a reliable or responsible way to solve the underlying problem long-term.”Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is one of the largest universities in the UK with almost 50,000 students, many of whom now face half a semester without classes.

Tighter visa requirements and a changing international education landscape mean budgets are under pressure at universities across the UK, straining relations between management and staff. Workers are also striking at Dundee University, and University of Nottingham staff are this week due to walk out over plans to cut 600 jobs.

Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and Glasgow Caledonian University are also being affected by strike action.

The pressure is particularly acute in Scotland, where universities depend heavily on a limited pool of public money. The funding gap for Scottish universities stands at £200 million, according to an analysis led by Anton Muscatelli, president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and former principal of the University of Glasgow.

Still, the proposed cuts at Edinburgh are especially contentious, as the university isn’t in deficit. It says it needs to make the cuts to prevent a future shortfall as costs rise faster than income.

At Edinburgh, students have been told to work on the basis that studies will continue as normal, including submitting assessments and sitting exams. The university was hit by strike action this summer when some final-year students were only able to graduate after the organization’s senate introduced an emergency measure to allow them to graduate without their total marks.

In recent days, Edinburgh has come under particular criticism for making cuts to Scottish and Celtic courses, as well as other programs, as part of a wider debate about the number of Scottish students at some of the nation’s top-ranking institutions, including the University of St. Andrews.

Due to the government funding model, there are set numbers of Scottish places for which institutions receive money, and they face financial penalties for being significantly above or below those allocations.

The University of Dundee needed an initial £22 million bailout from the Scottish government after revealing a deficit in 2024. The union says over 800 jobs have been lost since then, and that these savings and public funding should be sufficient to rule out more compulsory redundancies.