Lancaster UCU says it was ‘left with no choice’ as students miss marks on results day

Lancaster UCU (LUCU) has commented on its participation in the Marking and Assessment Boycott, as students faced the fallout of the MAB during university results day.

Many students voiced upset at the effect the MAB has had on their studies, stating it is not “very fair”.

The Lancaster Tab reached out to LUCU to find out its feelings on the MAB, now that the boycott has had a direct effect on many students’ degrees.

Lancaster UCU explained: “The ongoing Marking & Assessment Boycott (MAB) is a result of five years of dispute that UCU has had with the universities”, adding that UCU members “have seen their pay eroded, their pensions attacked, and the terms and conditions at work worsening”.

A spokesperson for LUCU said: “We were left with no choice, as the proportion of income spent on staff salaries continues to fall and we see a decline in our pay equivalent to 25 per cent; even as universities continue to rake in surpluses of billions of pounds and Vice-Chancellors and university senior management award themselves six-figure salaries, while increasing staff student ratios and increasing casualisation across the sector”. They used the example of the 54 per cent increase in university staff members earning more than £100k per annum from 2018 to 2022, whilst staff costs “as a proportion of income” have gone down five per cent.

The spokesperson continued, “Lancaster University has responded to LUCU’s lawful action by undermining quality assurance procedures, while telling students that they will graduate, regardless of whether their submitted work has been marked or not”, claiming that the “no detriment” policy will “create inequalities between students in the same year, the same programme cohort, and even the same module”. They believe this “is not the high-quality education students signed up for”.

LUCU stated: “Lancaster University has embraced and operated the marketised university model, but has failed to provide graduating students with higher education qualifications that meet the academic standards expected of a university”, and believes that the boycott “has exposed these deep flaws in a system created by the senior management echelons that prioritises profits over staff and students”.

The statement concluded: “We are deeply grateful for the support of our brilliant students, and we stand by to support them in every way possible, in a rotten system that works only to line the pockets of senior managers”.

Lancaster University were contacted for comment.

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