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“French needs it, because as every English student of French knows, there is no word for ‘shallow’,” he said.

Prof David Maguire, the vice chancellor, says “difficult decisions” have led to a 20% reduction in the number of courses, increased lecture group sizes, less one-to-one contact between academics and students, and fewer staff in student support including in mental health and counselling.

As universities cut back there is a risk to the student experience - this year the largest annual study of undergraduates found only 36% in England thought their course was good or very good value for money.

Teddy Darvill-Cutts is a UEA occupational therapy student who says he can see where his tuition fee goes.

But another UEA student, Amber Bramham, says not “all students see the benefits equally”.