(Image: NQ/Canva/Edinburgh University)
“Maybe you live in a world where the cost doesn't matter or where there is no need to be concerned about the future…”
Those are the words of Sir Peter Mathieson defending recent programme closures at Edinburgh University in an email sent to a student and a number of Edinburgh MSPs.
“I am puzzled to know what part of the concept of affordability you don't understand,” Sir Peter added.
The Herald understands that Sir Peter, the university’s principal and vice-chancellor, was responding to an email calling on him to resign his position.
A source told The Herald that the student had cc’ed regional MSPs and university staff into their initial email, all of whom received Sir Peter’s reply.
It is unclear if the principal intended for them to do so.
Sir Peter Mathieson appearing at a Education Committee hearing at Holyrood in June 2025. (Image: Scottish Parliament)
Sir Peter’s email states: “Whilst I very much agree with you that ‘staff and student voices matter’, it is important that those voices are well-informed by the facts and grounded in a real-world analysis.
“I am puzzled to know what part of the concept of affordability you don't understand.
“Maybe you live in a world where the cost doesn't matter or where there is no need to be concerned about the future, about sustainability or resilience, or about whether there is enough income to justify and support expenditure.
“The University of Edinburgh does not live in such a world.
“[Provost] Kim Graham and I, along with huge numbers of subject experts and committed colleagues, are leading the tough decisions that responsible leaders need to take.
“We are ensuring the future of this great university so that future generations of people like you can benefit in the way that you and your contemporaries have.”
Sir Peter has been criticised over the last two years after plans to cut £140 million from the university’s annual budget were announced.
Last month, The Herald revealed that the university would ‘teach out’ 90 programmes in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
In response, members of the University and College Union (UCU), who say that plans to cut £140m from the university’s budget could see as many as 1,800 staff made redundant, have launched five weeks of strike action, causing significant disruption to the first academic term.
Sir Peter’s email continued: “The information that you request about the finances of the sector and of the University of Edinburgh is all in the public domain.
“Where there is dispute, it is about how we should respond to those circumstances which are largely beyond our control.
“You are entitled to your opinion about our responses but you need to suggest alternative genuine evidence-based approaches rather than just object for the sake of objecting.
Calls for Sir Peter's resignation have grown since managers decided to cut 90 programmes at the university. (Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
A source told The Herald that the student’s email expressed support for the election, rather than appointment, of the university’s chief executive, as is the case at universities like Trinity College Dublin.
To this, Sir Peter wrote: “As for changing the constitution of the University (and of all Scottish universities) about the ways in which future Principals and Provosts are appointed, good luck with that.
“I hope you find success and happiness in the future.”
Sir Peter, 67, recently announced he will leave the university when his current term of office expires in 2028.
However, he told members of the institution’s governing Court that he will give the university his “full attention” until his final day in 16 months.
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“At Edinburgh, we are making the tough decisions necessary to restore our University to financial sustainability and resilience for the years ahead,” he said.
“There will be plenty of time for me to thank colleagues and reflect on my time here in due course.
“Every decision that I have made, and those of the executive teams I have led, have always kept the university’s best interests uppermost,” he said last week.
“We have always acted in good faith, believing we were doing the right things, which are very rarely the easiest things.”
An Edinburgh University spokesperson said the university had nothing to add.