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Dear students,
Update, as of 8 June 2023
UCL'S academic response to the Marking and Assessment Boycott
Rather than resuming talks to resolve the dispute, university management has called for a process of 'mitigation' to change the impact of the MAB. We are deeply concerned about these proposed measures. Rather than reduce, they may actually worsen its impact on you. The plan is to ignore your grade-forming assessments such as final exams or projects, and award a qualification based on incomplete work. This will likely lead to marks that don't reflect your efforts and accomplishments in this final term.
Such 'mitigation' has the effect of readjusting the weight of your assessments, particularly distorting the results for students graduating this year. This sets off a series of effects. It could reduce the quality and reputation of your degree, diploma, or certificate. That in turn could affect your employability. Degree-accreditation bodies such as the Institute of Physics or the Royal Society of Chemistry have warned that unsatisfactory 'mitigation' will go against the standards of their accreditation (see their objections here: Institute of Physics and Royal Society of Chemistry). Other accrediting bodies are likely to have similar concerns.
Wherever in the world you were, your education will have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In spring-summer 2020, mitigation was absolutely necessary. Your staff worked hard to maintain the quality and standard of UCL education. That had resulted in students passing to the next level based on assessments marked by staff – exams which were converted into projects and written assignments. But that situation was fundamentally different to the current one:
- Staff input was vital to the success of that Covid-19 mitigation.
- The current 'mitigation' proposals are based around ignoring staff input.
This mitigation is not necessary, as university management can resume talks and stop the action. Your hard works deserve to be marked properly. We wish to mark your work as normal. As your lecturers, we do not aim to deny you your marks or degrees. We have paused marking and assessment until university management resumes negotiations and comes back with an acceptable proposal for staff conditions.
What you can do to support us
In the end, our working conditions are your learning conditions. So we hope you will stand with us at this crucial time. If you would like to play a part in resolving this situation quickly, here are some things you can do:
- Sign the #SettleTheDispute open letter initiated by UCL students.
- Circulate this message among other students.
- Write to your own Head of Department.
- Email the UCL Provost, Professor Michael Spence, michael.spence@ucl.ac.uk, urging him to settle the dispute with staff.
— End of update
Dear students,
As you are aware, university staff have been called by our union, UCU, to participate in a Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB), which started on the 20th of April. This is in response to the universities’ intransigence to address issues that are threatening the very existence of HIgher Education: pay that falls well behind inflation, pay inequality, precarious work contracts, and ever-increasing workloads.
We would like to reassure you that your education and welfare are our priority. The boycott covers summative assessments only. Staff are not called to boycott tutorials or pastoral support for students.
UCL’s message that the MAB includes ‘supporting students as they prepare for assessment’ is misleading. The most likely effect that the MAB will have on you is that you might not receive some of your summative assessment marks and feedback until after the boycott is over. It may delay your graduation if you’re in your final year, or the decision on your progression to the next year of your course. But marks will eventually be produced.
However, in order to try and get around the boycott, UCL may ask someone else to mark your exam or assessed coursework. This could affect the academic judgment of your work and the marks you receive. In some cases, your exam might not even be set by your usual lecturer.
All those consequences would be imposed by UCL, not the staff participating in the MAB. The best way to ensure you get the marks you deserve is if the universities do their part to resolve the dispute, so that we can mark your work.
Unfortunately UCL has announced that they will deduct 50% of the salaries of people that participate in the boycott, for the whole period of 24th of April to 9th of July. This amounts to a flat 10% cut in annual pay, irrespective of the amount of marking a member of staff does. This is an aggressive and likely unlawful measure. Instead of bringing the dispute to a close, such a harsh attitude makes it harder for us to resolve it.
Why we are taking this action
We do not want to be carrying out this boycott, but university management leave us with little choice. After several days of strike action earlier this year, they only came back with an insulting pay offer of a 5% pay rise from next academic year on top of 3% last year. Given current inflation, this translates into a 15% pay cut in ‘real’ terms over the two years until August. On our other demands such as job security and inequality, we have only nebulous promises of future negotiations.
We simply cannot sit back and watch our pay and working conditions deteriorate, while Higher Education loses its talented and dedicated practitioners. Indeed, a 15% pay cut in Higher Education is a 15% cut in the salaries of future staff. It is our responsibility to you, our current students and potential future colleagues, to create a university worth working in, as well as being able to offer you the education you deserve now and your juniors in the future.
Remember, our working conditions are your learning conditions.
Postgraduate students who earn a little as Postgraduate Teaching Assistants during their studies, are also part of the boycott, as they see their future in Higher Education becoming increasingly insecure. Some research and professional staff including library or computer staff are also boycotting their role in exams and assessments. We hope that you can give them the same support and solidarity as we know so many students have already given your lecturers.
What you can do to support us
We are asking for your support to end this dispute sooner, by convincing universities’ management to address our reasonable demands.
- Contact the Provost to let him know that you stand by UCL staff, and that you want their demands to be addressed.
- Talk to your lecturers and tutors, and let them know you support them – the decision to participate in a MAB is difficult for all of us!
Together, we can win!
With care, always,
UCL UCU
