BBC Children’s & Education is axing 11 positions that represent around 3% of the department’s total headcount. The cuts are tied to a decision to start outsourcing the production of interstitials that air between programming on CBeebies and CBBC (other than CBeebies Bedtime Story). 

According to a BBC spokesperson, these reductions are part of a second phase of changes that were announced to staff in February 2023. “These decisions are never easy, but we aim to make these savings—as far as is possible—through voluntary redundancy.”

Consultations with staff and the unions are now underway. More positively, the Beeb also intends to create 11 new roles to support an increased focus on animation commissions and Bitesize content production.

A broader strategy to address market contraction and other challenges (including digital transition costs, high inflation and a final flat license fee year) was outlined in the public broadcaster’s annual report this past July. At the time, the BBC said it was planning to cut 500 public-service positions by the end of March 2026.

This report also highlighted an operating deficit increase from US$249 million in 2022/2023 to US$339 million in 2023/2024, as well as a bleak forecast putting this figure at US$635 million by 2025.