Overall, the university sector comprises about 206,000 academic and 246,000 non-academic staff, according to the latest data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

And financial problems are affecting universities in every part of the UK, despite different funding models in each nation.

Students from Scotland do not pay fees, because of government grants, while students in England pay £9,250 per year – rising to £9,535 next year as the government tries to boost income for the sector.

Those fees will be the same for students in Wales, where Cardiff University said it would need to cut 400 full-time jobs to tackle a funding shortfall, as well as closing some courses, with nursing, music and modern languages among the subjects at risk.

And in Northern Ireland, where universities are funded by a mix of £4,750-a-year fees and government grants, Queen’s University Belfast faced criticism in February over its decision to open a campus in India while planning to cut up to 270 jobs.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said higher education was “on its knees” and an emergency fund was needed to protect jobs and courses in the short term before a new funding model could be developed.

A DfE official said the government was “committed to boosting the sector’s long-term financial sustainability and restoring universities as engines of opportunity, aspiration and growth”.

Additional reporting by Rahib Khan