Wednesday briefing: Inside the marking boycott that has thrown university students’ futures into the air

In today’s newsletter: A stalemate between lecturers and universities has left thousands of exams and dissertations ungraded – what’s the dispute about, and how might it end?

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Good morning. Finishing the last exam of your degree course should be one of the happiest moments of a student’s career. The stress of finals is over, the hard work has paid off. Graduation beckons and, beyond that, the next exciting stage of life.

But for tens of thousands this summer, the reality is proving very different. A marking boycott by the union representing many UK university lecturers means that tests are being left ungraded and dissertations unassessed.

Net zero | The government’s plans to hit net zero have been criticised in a report by its own advisers that warns targets are being missed on nearly every front. Lord Deben, outgoing chair of the CCC, said the UK had “lost the leadership” on climate action shown at Cop26 in 2021 and done “a number of things” that were “utterly unacceptable”.

Julian Sands | A body that was discovered in the wilderness near Mount Baldy in California on Saturday has been confirmed to be that of the missing British actor Julian Sands. San Bernardino county sheriff’s department had been coordinating a search for the actor who was reported missing on 13 January.

Health | Senior doctors in England have voted to go on strike over pay for the first time in nearly 50 years. Hospital consultants will strike for two days on 20 July, which will bring major disruption to services that have already had to reschedule 651,000 appointments since a wave of NHS strikes began last December.

Covid | Matt Hancock has said he is “profoundly sorry” for his part in mistakes that meant the UK was not properly prepared for Covid. He told the Covid public inquiry that he had not properly challenged assurances that sufficient planning was in place.

UK economy | The UK’s largest mobile and broadband companies have been accused of fuelling “greedflation” after pushing through the biggest round of price hikes for more than 30 years. Six companies controlling most of the telecoms market all charged a 3.9% supplement on top of their annual inflation-linked increases this year, meaning millions of customers have faced mid-contract price increases of up to 17.3%.

Marking boycott may delay degrees of more than 1,000 Durham students

University says about 20% of final-year students will face delays if industrial action continues

More than 1,000 final year students at Durham University could be left without a degree this summer because of the marking boycott disrupting universities across the UK.

Durham, one of 145 universities affected by the industrial action over pay and working conditions called by the University and College Union (UCU), said about 20% of its 5,300 final year students would “at the moment, face delays in receiving all their marks and final classifications”.

Third of UK final-year students face grades delay due to marking boycott

Small number could attend graduation but later be told they have failed as pay dispute affects assessments at 145 universities

Tens of thousands of university students are being left in limbo without their final degree results this summer, including some who could attend graduation ceremonies only to be told later that they have failed.

About a third of the UK’s 500,000 final-year undergraduates are thought to have been affected by the marking and assessment boycott at 145 universities, part of the pay dispute between the University and College Union (UCU) and employers that has strained relations between staff, students and management.

Staff at 150 UK universities begin three days of strikes

Industrial action going ahead despite hopes of breakthrough on pay, conditions and pensions last week

Universities in the UK have been hit by strike action once again, despite hopes of a breakthrough last week with an offer from employers on pay, working conditions and pensions.

Tens of thousands of staff at 150 universities pressed ahead with planned strikes on Monday in the first of three days of industrial action this week, with many branches claiming big turnouts on picket lines.

UK university staff make breakthrough in strike dispute with employers

Unions and UCEA declare agreement ‘on terms of reference for detailed negotiations’ on pay and conditions

University staff have made a breakthrough in their months-long dispute with employers during which lecturers have gone on strike, worked to rule and refused to cover for absent colleagues across the UK.

A group of five higher education trade unions and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) announced agreement “on terms of reference for detailed negotiations covering a review of the UK higher education pay spine, workload, contract types and equality pay gaps”.

After a marking boycott, the university threatened to withhold our pay. That only made us angrier | Tanzil Chowdhury

The disdain shown to us by Queen Mary University of London inspired me to redouble my efforts on the picket lines. Staff and students have had enough

On 29 June 2022, all the staff at Queen Mary University of London, where I work, received an email from management. To our horror, they were threatening to withhold 100% of our pay for 21 days of both July and August, because we were participating in a marking boycott over pensions, pay, labour precarity, inequality and working conditions. Life in the higher education sector had been getting tougher ever since I started my career in 2017. But at that moment, I not only resolved to continue to strike, but redoubled my efforts to get as many colleagues as possible to join me on the picket lines. The condescension from my employers made me feel something stark and visceral.

I hadn’t always felt so jaded. I finished my PhD in law in 2016 and was ready to begin a life of service in education and research, working in the subject I cared passionately about. But several things quickly became clear. There was the increasing precarity of university labour: one-third of academics are on fixed-term contracts, 41% are on hourly paid contracts and there are still 29 institutions employing at least five academic staff on zero-hours contract. In 2021, it was reported that pay had been cut by 20% in real-terms over the past 12 years, while changes to the pension scheme mean that we’ve taken a 35% cut to our guaranteed retirement income despite contributing more. Meanwhile, university and college staff are doing the equivalent of two days’ unpaid work every week on average. It’s an environment that leaves me feeling, like many others, disillusioned and questioning my future.

Dr Tanzil Chowdhury is a lecturer at Queen Mary University of London.

Strikes by university staff called off after pay breakthrough

Move follows agreement from employers on lowest-paid workers and review of salary grades

Strikes by university staff over the next two weeks have been called off after a breakthrough in negotiations over pay, pensions and working conditions, unions have announced.

Five unions – Unison, UCU, GMB, Unite and EIS – issued a joint statement with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) confirming three days of strikes will be suspended following talks at the conciliation service Acas, though discussions will continue.

University admin staff are burnt out too | Letter

It’s not just lecturers who are struggling with stress due to unrealistic workloads, says one reader

Re the University and College Union’s dispute (Work-life balance as important as pay, says university staff union, 10 February), there is always a focus on lecturers in articles about it. But the UCU is made up of more than lecturers. I am a burnt-out administrator, struggling to have my issues taken seriously by my university and by the country.

In the past year, I have been spread across three projects, all full-time roles in themselves, yet classified as only needing one or two days a week of work. All these were time-limited contracts. My contract is now permanent, but my job description is six pages long. It seems the universities now want blanket contracts so you’re on the hook for any work they want to dump on you. I have co-workers who are so snowed under with their workload that they’re afraid to strike lest they come back to an even larger mountain of work. I know many people in professional services jobs at the university who have been off sick with stress.

Work-life balance as important as pay, says university staff union

Six days into strike action, Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, demands end to ‘draining’ campus conditions

Striking university staff are determined to secure a deal that tackles burnout and makes their working lives more liveable, Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) has insisted, ahead of talks at the independent Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).

Speaking on the sixth day of coordinated strike action across the higher education sector, Grady told the Guardian that for the UCU and fellow higher education unions, the dispute has never been just about pay.

Ministers and unions dig in amid widespread strike action across UK

Little prospect of breakthrough as strikes hit schools, trains, universities and border posts

Unions and the government appear as far apart as ever after widespread strike action closed or partly closed more than half of schools across England and Wales.

Striking workers from participating unions held rallies in cities including Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham and London on Wednesday as teachers, university staff, rail workers and civil servants stopped work to demand better pay.