Teaching staff at Scotland's most prestigious performance arts academy are facing compulsory redundancy as part of moves to save more than half-a-million pounds.

Teaching staff at Scotland's most prestigious performance arts academy are facing compulsory redundancy as part of moves to save more than half-a-million pounds.

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD), whose past students include actors Robert Carlyle, James McAvoy, Tom Conti and Elaine C Smith, is also considering moving some full-time academic staff on to part-time contracts.

The Herald revealed in January that the Glasgow-based academy was offering a voluntary severance scheme to all staff to make savings of £600,000.

There was particular embarrassment for the RSAMD when it emerged that a student production of the opera Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky went over budget by an estimated £100,000, although nearly half was subsequently recouped from ticket sales.

A statement from the academy, to be released to staff today, states: "Having taken all possible steps to avoid compulsory redundancy, it now appears the academy may need to consider a small number of compulsory redundancies where the requirements for certain posts have either ceased or diminished."

The statement also highlights plans to review the need for full-time posts. "A possible outcome of that review may be that some staff will be offered term-time only or pro-rata posts instead of their current full-time posts," it states.

Officials from RSAMD said there would be a full consultation with staff and unions before any decisions were taken.

But full-time posts which will be protected include those where there is a "significant management responsibility" as well as staff who generate research income or have year-round administrative duties.

The staff statement, entitled The Rationale for Change, concludes: "If we do not take action now, the academy's ability to maintain its current position, far less achieve its ambitious strategic objectives, will be seriously compromised.

"We would lose any competitive edge and we would be in a deficit situation year on year. The realisation of that scenario is unthinkable.

"Unless we plan for the future we will find ourselves within a few years unable to deliver a true conservatoire experience to any of our students."

Last night, unions reacted angrily to the proposals for compulsory redundancies.

Ken Wimbor, assistant secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said: "We oppose the use of compulsory redundancy to resolve any problems and we will use whatever means we can to resist them. Likewise, we will be seeking advice on the legality of moving people on to part-time contracts in the way proposed.

"There are a large number of loyal, long-serving employees at RSAMD and what is being proposed will have a dire effect on the circumstances of them and their families.

"Morale more generally across the academy will take another severe blow."

The financial crisis at RSAMD was, in part, initiated by the signing of a pay award for lecturers in the UK in 2006 worth 13.1% over three years.

The situation has also been exacerbated by what officials at RSAMD see as long-term underfunding of teaching of drama by the Scottish Funding Council.

For every music student taught by the academy it receives £13,000 a year from the funding council, but it gets only £7000 a year for drama students. By comparison, similar academies in England such as Rada are paid £12,000 a year for drama students.

Another reason for the move is to concentrate funds on paying competitive rates to part-time teachers from professional practice, officials said.