Molly Christie
It’s no secret that over the past few months, many students have come to face the implications of industrial action taking place in university institutions.
The UCU called for members of the union to participate in strikes. This meant that lectures, seminars and workshops were cancelled, as well as the elected representatives on UCU’s higher education committee voted to begin a marking and assessment boycott which began on 20th April 2023.
This new form of industrial action, which began in November and continued in February and March, has disrupted teaching throughout the past academic year. The marking boycott resulted in a halt to all assessment feedback, processing grades and in some cases, exams being cancelled.
GROWING STUDENT CONCERNS
This caused distress and controversy amongst many students across the country. Understandably, many of those graduating worried that they may be unable to start the jobs they have secured or the postgraduate courses which they have been offered because their final classification is unknown.
Furthermore, students who are yet to complete their undergraduate studies remain unaware of whether they have qualified to progress to the next part of their course. In addition, students have not been given access to their previous assessment feedback, thus limiting their ability to improve their grades on future work.
“the impact of the strikes and marking boycott varies between institutions and courses.”
There are 145 UK universities affected by industrial action, many of which have issued statements reassuring students that they aim to mitigate the impact on students. However, it remains unclear exactly what this means, leaving many students wondering if and when they will receive their final classifications.
THE NEED FOR COMPENSATION
Each university has its own contingency plan. This raises questions about how equal the mitigations will be between universities, as some have responded better than others.
Furthermore, the impact of the strikes and marking boycotts varies between institutions and courses. This is dependent upon which teaching staff are part of the union and choose to participate in the strikes. In turn, a further gap is created between students as some will have faced more disruption than others.
“the strikes and boycotts created an unnecessary divide between the students and staff at universities.”
Some students have stated that they feel they should be entitled to a partial refund from their university since they have not had full access to all of their teaching. Others have highlighted that tuition fees are sent straight from the government to the university, inadvertently generating a profit.
This is because staff members are not paid whilst on strike, whilst the university continues to receive the same fees from students. Others have highlighted the inconvenient timing of this round of industrial action, as lectures are not required to inform students of their strike participation in advance. As a result, many commuting students arrived on campus, having paid train fares or filled their petrol tanks during a cost-of-living crisis, only to find an empty lecture theatre.
THE OUTCOME
As well as creating a divide between students, the strikes and boycotts created an unnecessary divide between the students and staff at universities. The purpose behind these strikes and boycotts is to fight for improved working conditions and fair lecturer salaries, with the hopes that tuition fees are better invested in student services.
“Are lecturers punishing students for circumstances which they are not responsible for?”
Many students understand and agree with the reasons behind the strikes. Having said this, we still can’t help but feel betrayed. The same cohort that had their education disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic is now facing the consequences of circumstances out of their control.
Is the current course of strikes harming the wrong group? Are lecturers punishing students for circumstances which they are not responsible for? Or is industrial action the only way that Vice-Chancellors will take action in response to a crisis in higher education?
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Featured image courtesy of Emily Ranquist on Pexels. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
