Adele Merson

1 week ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Adele Merson

Aberdeen University students warn courses will disappear, jobs will be lost and students will “continue to pay the price” for a crisis hitting universities unless urgent investment is offered. The student-led organisation sounded the alarm over the “bleak” future facing Scottish universities unless they receive more funding. It comes after a financial update was issued to university staff on Thursday warning of immediate steps being taken to address rising costs of £4.7 million.

1 week ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Adele Merson

Aberdeen University is taking “immediate steps” to address rising costs of £4.7 million, including potential job losses and a recruitment freeze. Staff were told in a message circulated by the university that the situation facing the higher education sector is “extremely challenging”. The institution’s costs for 2025-26 are set to climb by “at least” £4.7m in 2025-26. It blames an increase in employer’s National Insurance contributions, last year’s pay award to staff and inflationary pressures.

1 week ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Adele Merson

Lecturers at Robert Gordon University turned out in force against job cuts in what organisers say was the “biggest protest in over a decade”. And while they made their anger clear on the picket line on Tuesday, students also explained how pressure at the institution is being felt in classrooms. Third-year nursing students Jennifer Geddes, Tina Lawrie and Karen Cole, were among those showing their support for academic staff at Garthdee.

1 week ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Adele Merson

Bosses at Robert Gordon’s College say their “only option” is to challenge plans for a controversial battery storage site in court, the P&J can reveal. Councillors previously rejected proposals by Flexion Energy UK Storage for land at Newton of Pitfodels near Cults, close to the school’s Countesswells playing fields. But the controversial plans, which gathered more than 100 objections, were last month approved after the firm appealed the case to the Scottish Government.

2 weeks ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Adele Merson

Thousands more patients from the north and north-east should receive procedures like cataracts and joint replacements after an extra £2.6 million was allocated to the National Treatment Centre in Inverness. The additional funding was announced by SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray during a visit to the facility on Thursday.