Update: Tuesday 9th May

Nikita, VP Education met with Academic Registry and other members of Students' Union Staff to review the mitigations being put in place for students, and to able to brief the Advice Service for any changes. We raised concerns on the impact upon International Students, Nursing Student Pins and Professionally Accredited Courses were the mitigations cannot be met, whilst we are reasonably assured that the University has a robust plan, we will continue to engage in discussions with the university to ensure student voice is at the centre of the discussions and communications moving forward are understandable and thorough . We encourage students to engage in their assessments where possible, to have an open dialogue with their academic staff to understand how mitigations will affect them and to access the different support on offer within the university through the wellbeing team wellbeing@uclan.ac.uk.

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You may have heard that the University and College Union have had a re-ballot where the outcome was in favour of continuing industrial action. ‘Strikes’ and ‘Actions short of a Strike’ are examples of temporary and collective industrial action taken by staff as part of a Trade Union.

UCLan Students’ Union, like UCU, is a membership led, democratically driven organisation. The values we hold as important are the same values that underpin UCU: collectivism and campaigning. As such when UCU enact these values to strive for positive change for their members, we support that. We support it because these are the same principles and values that we seek to enact.

Industrial action can mean:

• Strikes: Staff stop working during a pre-agreed temporary strike period until the end of the agreed strike period or until demands are met – whichever is sooner. The days staff strike, they are unpaid.
• Actions short of strike (ASOS): Staff only work on tasks they are contracted to complete during contracted working hours. This is refusal to do some work and impactful as staff have large workloads and are often expected to go beyond their contracted tasks and hours.
• Marking and Assessment boycott: UCU members who are taking part in this action may choose not to mark coursework or exams during this period.

UCU has given notice of a marking and assessment boycott, which is taking place at universities across the country from Thursday 20 April onwards. We understand that this is a stressful time for all students, whether you’re heading towards progression or graduation. It is important to note, however, that not all academic staff are members of UCU, and not all members will take part in the boycott - so you should continue to submit assignments and study for exams as usual.

The University have shared information with all students regarding mitigation (modifications for assessment and marking) on the Student Hub here and via email. This is where you can find out how this Marking and Assessment boycott might affect you, and what mitigations the University have put in place for you. 

Meanwhile, if you need any support, we encourage you to reach out to the Student Support services available here, or visit the Wellbeing drop-in Monday – Friday, 10am-4pm, in the Student Centre.

We also acknowledge many of you will be angry and frustrated by this news. If you would like to submit a complaint you can do so here. If you would like support with your complain, you can reach out to our independent Advice Service by completing the 'contact an advisor' form.

The Students' Union will be working with the University to ensure mitigations and processes put in place will support our students in the best way possible.

Got any questions or feedback to raise? You can email Nikita, your Vice President Education, here: sueducation@uclan.ac.uk.