Exam writers bring legal claim against Cambridge University Press & Assessment

12 exam writers are taking legal action against Cambridge University Press & Assessment (CUP&A) over changes to their employment status.

The Society of Authors (SoA), a trade union for professional writers, claim that the terms of their members’ contracts meant that they should have been classed as “workers”.

As a result of this mis-categorisation, they argue that they have been denied workplace rights, such as employment protection and fair holiday pay, BBC reports.

Exam writers were sent new contacts in April 2024 indicating that CUP&A would officially recognise them as “workers”. These contracts also included changes such as reducing hourly rates for certain tasks and setting holiday pay at 12.07 per cent. They argue that these changes made by CUP&A have resulted in a pay cut for many.

To continue receiving commissions, the writers were told by the company that they had to agree to the new terms. All 12 claimants signed the new contract in May 2024.

Lawyers argue that this was one of many contract changes putting the workers in a poorer position than they had previously been in. They claim their legal rights have been breached as the terms of the previous agreement never matched the writers and their employers’ true relationship.

The solicitor representing the writers, Ryan Bradshaw, said to Solicitors Journal: “These exam writers have been denied fundamental rights that should have been afforded to them all along. The adjustments made by CUP&A under the guise of belatedly complying with their legal obligations were, in reality, a thinly veiled pay cut.”

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Deputy chief executive of the SoA, Sarah Burton, said: “Our members are longstanding and committed exam writers for CUP&A, and to effectively compel them to sign new contracts which obliged them to take what amounts to a pay cut is shocking and unfair.”

Burton also added: “We are disappointed that Cambridge University Press & Assessment has chosen not to resolve this matter directly with our members and the SoA, and that it has been necessary to proceed with a legal claim.”

Cambridge University Press & Assessment has been approached for comment

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