‘National crisis’ as one in four UK university physics departments at risk of closing

An anonymous survey of physics department heads by the Institute of Physics (IoP) found that 26% anticipated department closure within the next two years.

The survey found that 60% expected courses within their physics department to face staff cuts, with four in five departments cutting losses.

Most department heads (84%) reported facing financial difficulties in the survey, emphasising the strain on the funding needed and the costs of keeping physics departments afloat, in what The Guardian has called a “national crisis”.

Physics has long been valued as a degree discipline that “underpins all technological advances”, as stated by the chair of the IoP’s Heads of Physics Forum and head of the University of Portsmouth’s School of Mathematics and Physics, Professor Daniel Thomas.

A head of physics raised concerns about their university’s ‘£30m deficit’, anticipating that the department is ‘close to breaking point’

Sir Keith Burnett, current president of IoP and former chair of physics at the University of Oxford, added: “Physics researchers and talented physics students are our future … [and] one of our greatest national assets.”

Financial pressures have further been inflicted by the ongoing fall in international students, who contribute significantly to funding for UK universities. Professor Thomas referenced the falling relative value of domestic tuition fees as another contributing factor.

A head of physics raised concerns about their university’s “£30m deficit”, anticipating that the department is “close to breaking point” under these financial difficulties.

Reductions to physics departments threaten the quality of research, career prospects, and the overall appeal of the degree discipline to potential students.

[The Institute of Physics] hopes that an ‘early warning system’ can be set up to track departments at risk of closure and to better inform international student recruitment

The University of Warwick maintains one of the strongest physics departments across the UK, ranked sixth by The Guardian in its 2026 UK university subject rankings. The ranking comes due to the achievement of factors such as high research quality and good postgraduate employability.

Advertised as a strong degree choice for a wide variety of STEM-related career paths, the challenge to physics departments across the country is a threat to the ambitions of many students, alongside the jobs of many academics.

The IoP is urgently calling for government funding for existing labs and research facilities, and hopes that an “early warning system” can be set up to track departments at risk of closure and to better inform international student recruitment.