Leaked emails reveal the University of Leicester will close the Bennett and Physics buildings for “at least” two years

Leaked correspondence between the university and staff, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), have revealed “extensive work” to the roof and internal steel framework of the 1970s buildings is needed to make sure the teaching centres are “structurally sound” and “safe for continued occupation.”

A “major overhaul of nearly every programme across the university” will be required to relocate the classes, lectures, and labs which would normally take place in them, the university said, adding the “impact of re-timetabling will be felt across all university schools and departments.” The university has declared a “major incident.”

Its woes are not restricted to those two buildings, however. In response to staff questions over why they could not just move into the Adrian Building, also on the main campus, the university stated it did not “want to decant from one failing building into another failing building.” They also said that the Adrian Building too would not be in use from the start of the year. A University of Leicester spokesperson told the LDRS the Adrian Building would be closed for good, with work towards this underway for the last two years.

The news about the Bennett and Physics buildings has prompted concerns about the quality of teaching for students while the works are carried out. Questions have also been raised over how the university is going to pay for the repairs, with staff asking whether there could be future redundancies.

One university worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told the LDRS the university is having to delay other projects to put up the funds for these repairs, including works to fix faults in other buildings on the campus. However, they do not believe this money will stretch as far as the university needs.

They said: “There haven’t been too many details yet on how they’re going to fund this. They don’t really have the budget to do it properly.

“They’re just patching it up to the point where they hopefully, in the future, will have the money. There were a lot of people asking in the meeting [for staff to discuss the news] if their jobs were going to be safe at the end of this. They just gave a very non-committal answer.”

The university spokesperson said the final cost of the work “was not yet known” and would “become clear once the building has been vacated and further investigation work is undertaken.” They added the money would come from the organisation’s existing budget, and teams are currently evaluating which other projects will need to be put on hold.

They added: “We would like to make it clear that no redundancies will be made as a result of the closure of these two buildings to undertake the required structural repairs.”

Our source further claimed the problems go deeper than the roof and steel framework, with issues also discovered in the foundations of the buildings and their concrete. The university has been aware of the deterioration of the buildings since 2019, its communications show.

“They’ve discovered that there are actually problems with the foundations of the buildings,” they added. “[Also] all those buildings on that end of campus are now covered in scaffolding. The reason for that is because the concrete is so unstable that sometimes it falls off the walls, and they don’t want it hitting people in the head. After we get back to the office, we might have to be moved out again so they can do the concrete.”

The LDRS asked the university when these further repairs would take place and if staff and students would again be moved out. We were told: “It is not possible to say at this point how and when the long-term priorities and subsequent master-planning would impact on the current users.”

The two affected buildings “have several massive lecture theatres” which are not just used by the departments centred in them, but by schools across the university. Lecture space is already “ferociously fought over”, our source claimed.

The university has told staff it is in the process of relocating 6,600 “events”, which could include lectures, seminars, and labs. However, our source told the LDRS they fear the majority of lectures will have to be moved online while the buildings are shut.

They said: “I feel really bad for [the students] because it’s just such a lonely existence working from home, especially if you’ve just joined a university, and you don’t know anyone.”

The university spokesperson told the LDRS: “There is ample room around our campus to ensure all lectures, practical classes, study groups and research activities involving our students will remain face-to-face. Our students studying degrees in the buildings impacted by closure will be taught in different but equivalent spaces. There is also enough room for staff to continue working on campus.”

The closures come as two other departments move onto campus, adding to the struggles to find space. An email sent to staff this month shows the School of Education has completed its move, while the School of Museum Studies is set to join the main campus as well. It is not yet known where Museum Studies will be based.

The spokesperson again told us there is “ample room” to house both departments on campus “without any impact on space for teaching.” However, the email to staff said: “[The relocations] mean that four schools’ worth of staff and teaching is being relocated this summer, increasing pressure on the available campus, and making lots of extra work for teams working on timetabling, health and safety, security, etc.”