In this Special Report...
Closing departments and ending degrees is in vogue at the moment. We keep watch as universities face up to financial pressures and falling student numbers in the sciences and other subject areas.The Royal Society has suggested that the closure of science departments by some English universities may be having an adverse effect on the welfare of students.
Legal action against Exeter University over its planned department closures is becoming more likely.
Newspapers have caught on to the fact that Hull is to close its maths department, as we reported months ago.
The architecture department at Cambridge University will survive after a national campaign to save it, the university has said.
BMA: Department closures put medicine under threat
The future of UK medicine is at risk because universities are closing science departments, the British Medical Association has warned. It said that medical progress relies on university departments cooperating, but increasingly they are being closed down.
More information on recent closures in our special report.
MPs have launched an inquiry into science provision in British universities. The Commons Science and Technology Committee will look into both teaching and research following the recent spate of department closures around the country.
Breaking news: Exeter has confirmed in the last hour that its chemistry and music departments will close next summer.
A fifth of UK universities have closed departments this year or plan to do so next year, but the higher education minister can't help save them.
Bretton Hall, the performing arts college run by Leeds University, is to close in 2007 following a long campaign to save it.
Exclusive: Hull University seems set to close its maths department following a decision taken in principle at its Senate and Council.
Aston University plans to end its civil engineering courses, with dwindling student numbers to blame.
Cambridge puts off architecture decision
Plans to close Cambridge's architecture department have been put on hold pending an investigation into how to improve its status. As we reported last week, mass protests met reports that it was to close due to its poor research ranking compared to other Cambridge departments. The university had been set to decide its future yesterday, but a decision will now be made next year.
Keele to drop physics?
Keele University is planning to drop its physics degree, the Guardian reports Paul Farrelly as saying. The Newcastle-under-Lyme MP has spoken to people at the university who say plans will be put before the council next week, with a lack of research cash and falling student numbers to blame. The university is staying tight-lipped for the time being.
Anglia Polytechnic University is to stop offering 75% of its courses in preparation for top-up fees in 2006, its vice-chancellor has said.
Newcastle is to stop offering physics degrees, soon after Exeter announced the end of its chemistry programmes.
Chemistry and music will soon no longer be taught at Exeter following cutbacks approved by the university's senate.
Cambridge's architecture department could close because of its poor research rating, despite being "the best" in the UK.