RISING employment insecurity for university workers is hitting teaching quality and undermining academic freedom, a damning international report revealed today.

The joint study, conducted by United Nations experts at Unesco and the Switzerland-based International Labour Organisation, warns that the growth of casualisation in the sector is weakening the “fundamental pillars of excellence in teaching and research.”

The report, which received evidence from the University & College Union, also raises concerns about both “political interference and deference to market-driven priorities,” particularly those focused on providing so-called value for money.

It calls on Tory ministers to address the issue by “enhancing policy measures that safeguard tenure or its functional equivalent.”

The union is currently engaged in nationwide strikes against real-terms cuts to wages and pensions, precarious contracts and excessive workloads at universities. 

About 75,000 academic staff are on insecure temporary contracts, the union has warned, while nearly a fifth — 18 per cent — of institutions employ staff on zero-hours contracts.

The report was prompted by an allegation from the union that Britain could now be in breach of a 1997 recommendation from Unesco, the UN’s cultural arm. 

The recommendation, which is not legally binding, defined academic freedom as the “right, without constriction by prescribed doctrine, to freedom of teaching and discussion.”

The union said that the study’s conclusions provide further evidence of the detrimental impact of precarious work and urged university bosses to provide job security for all employees. 

General secretary Jo Grady said: “Academic freedom is rightly revered in UK higher education but, as this report makes clear, it is being damaged by the sector’s addiction to casualised contracts and exploitative employment practices.

“Staff are striking again this week to win job security and will be pleased to have their longstanding concerns backed up by international experts.

“The UK’s university sector is worth tens of billions of pounds and it can and should do better.

“Ending the use of insecure and exploitative contracts will not only give staff the security they deserve but improve teaching and research, benefiting students and the sector in the long term.

“Governments and vice-chancellors must recognise this and stop the race to the bottom on terms and conditions.”