Lecturers at the University of Edinburgh are refusing to mark essays, dissertations, and coursework as part of an ongoing dispute around £140m worth of cuts and job losses.
This means that many students could be left without marks at the end of their degrees, and could be handed “unclassified” degrees, with no formal degree certification, at graduation.
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, University Principal and Vice Chancellor, said the university is “profoundly disappointed, disheartened and frustrated that UCU Edinburgh members have again voted in favour of purposefully targeting our students”.
The marking and assessment boycott, seen as an extreme, last resort measure, is the latest twist in a bitter dispute between the university and the University and College Union (UCU) Edinburgh branch.
The university announced plans early last year for £140 million in budget cuts and up to 1,800 job losses. One of UCU’s main gripes is the fact that these cuts will purportedly necessitate compulsory redundancies.
Industrial action was promptly organised, and staff took part in multiple rounds of strike action until a deal was reached in December and the university committed to no compulsory redundancies before July this year.
This deal fell apart in March this year, when UCU announced further strike action, with 88% of the 55% of members balloted voting to return to the picket line. 94% voted in favour of action short of strike, which encompasses a marking boycott. UCU later claimed that the university had again failed to rule out compulsory redundancies.
However, in private emails, James Saville, the University’s Director of Human Resources, claimed that the university is committed to upholding their commitments under the previous agreements and will seek to avoid compulsory redundancies “where possible”.
Although UCU itself is yet to comment publicly, communications have been sent to staff and students warning of the upcoming boycott.
The boycott will be active from 1 May, but not all staff will take part.
In an email sent to staff, seen by The Edinburgh Reporter, warning about the industrial action, Saville said: “As you may already be aware, the Edinburgh branch of the University and College Union (UCUE) have renewed their one-year mandate for industrial action.
“As part of this mandate, they have just announced that they will be calling on their members to take continuous action short of a strike in the form of a marking and assessment boycott (MAB), with a start date of 1 May.
“While we fully respect the right for staff to take industrial action, we are deeply disappointed that UCU Edinburgh members have again voted in favour of deliberately and overtly targeting our students with a marking and assessment boycott.
“This will add to the strain on our students during an already challenging and important time.”
He added: “We will take all practical steps to keep exams and coursework submissions on track to support our students’ ability to progress and graduate.
“We are enacting contingency plans to mitigate significant disruption to the delivery of learning and teaching, assessment, progression and student experience, whilst maintaining academic standards.”
They also refuted “baseless” claims by UCU that they were not committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies: “As the Principal made clear in his email to all staff on 19 March, we strongly refute recent baseless statements made by UCUE about the actions we are taking to reshape and protect the long-term future of our University, and we do not believe further escalation is necessary as constructive discussions have taken place.”
On 19 March, Professor Mathieson accused UCUE of “undermining” the agreement struck by the union and the university and claimed that the university was not placing anybody at risk of compulsory redundancy – contrary to UCU’s statement at the opening of new strike action.
However, the email sent to staff in response to the boycott on 22 April ended by saying the university will always seek to avoid compulsory redundancies “where possible”.
An email sent to students after the boycott was announced by Lucy Evans, Associate Principal and Deputy Secretary for Students, stressed that studies should continue as normal: “It is critical that you continue to submit any assessments as planned, adhere to all course deadlines and attend and complete exams as planned.
“We have robust measures in place to reduce impact on students and to mitigate the risk that you are disadvantaged in your assessment or exam outcomes as a direct result of industrial action.
“We will make every effort to provide assessment, exam results, degree award outcomes and progression decisions to you by the published timelines.”
Unclassified degrees
The last time a marking and assessment boycott took place at the university, some students did not receive their marks prior to graduation and were forced to graduate with unclassified degrees.
A statement by the Edinburgh University Students’ Association said that while the association continues to support the right of staff to take industrial action, their priority is ensuring students aren’t affected and encouraged the University and UCU Edinburgh to come back to the table for “meaningful dialogue”.
In a statement, Professor Mathieson said: “We are profoundly disappointed, disheartened and frustrated that UCU Edinburgh members have again voted in favour of purposefully targeting our students with a marking and assessment boycott.
“We believe that this action is completely unjustifiable and will add unnecessary strain on our students during an already challenging and important time.
“Students will understandably have very real concerns about the disruption this boycott will cause, given that for some this may impact receiving awards or outcomes on progression.
“We will take all practical steps to keep exams and coursework submissions on track to support our students’ ability to progress and graduate.
“UCUE representatives may say that they want constructive engagement, however this decision and timing suggests otherwise.
“The University will continue to offer consultation with union representatives and continue to uphold our commitments under the agreement reached in December 2025, as we believe this is in the best interests of our staff.”
UCU Edinburgh has been approached for comment.
