UCU announces marking and assessment boycott

The boycott will begin on Thursday 20th of April


The University and College Union (UCU) has announced a marking and assessment boycott in the midst of disputes between employers and UCU members over pension and pay & conditions.

The Edinburgh UCU Twitter account retweeted the announcement, suggesting their support and intent to participate in the boycott. The marking and assessment boycott will begin on Thursday, 20th April 2023. It will continue until the disputes are settled or if the UCU calls off the boycotts.

Ultimately the decision to boycott any marking will depend on the discretion of UCU members – it is not possible to say which specific degrees or students will be affected.

A spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh has told the Edinburgh Tab that it is “working to minimise any potential impact of the industrial action on those who would be expecting to graduate, and we expect all eligible students to be able to graduate as planned”.

The UCU website details all work that will be affected: “The boycott covers all summative marking and assessment, whether expressed numerically or in any other form…”.

The boycott will include assessment-related work such as the processing of marks, organisation of/preparation for exams/assessment boards/meetings, and all attendance at exam boards. However, the boycott does not include the examination of dissertations and theses at the postgraduate level.

The University of Edinburgh’s full response to ongoing industrial action disputes can be found here.

 

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