Thursday 31-08-2023 - 14:45

It is the duty of the Students’ Union to represent the academic interests of students with transparency and honesty. For those awaiting marks, unsure of when they will be awarded degrees or worried about resits and progression to next year, we want to show you how we can help and be honest about our role and our limits.

What we’ll do and demand for students:

• We are launching a campaign to support Durham students impacted by the strikes and marking and assessment boycott (MAB) to seek compensation. The University has failed to deliver the Durham experience that students were promised. In the coming weeks, we will share with students how to participate in this campaign. Students can also reach out to us on social media to find out more information and contribute their experiences.
• The University should use funds saved from unpaid wages during strikes and marking and assessment boycotts to compensate students. We will be pushing the University for a clear account of how much less has been spent on educating students due to industrial action and holding them accountable for this money’s use.
• Students need the relationship between Durham University and Durham UCU to be constructive. This is currently not the case. We believe Durham University and Durham UCU can and should cooperate and bring honesty and respect to their relationship in order to build a sustainable local relationship for the future, one which recognises that staff’s teaching conditions are students’ learning conditions.
• Durham University must produce a joint statement with Durham UCU committing to using their influence to promote negotiations between UCEA and UCU. This would follow the precedent set by other universities, including Cambridge, Edinburgh, Herriot-Watt, and Sussex. Institutions across the UK have recognised that resolving this dispute as quickly as possible is in the interests of their students, staff, and the universities themselves. It is time Durham joined them and helped bring the MAB to an end.
• We are working with other students’ unions on a national campaign against the marketisation of education. We believe marketised education causes universities to be run like businesses, education to be treated as a commodity, and turns students into mere consumers.

Context and our position

The MAB is part of a national dispute between the University and College Union (UCU) and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). There are ongoing negotiations between the UCU and UCEA, but students’ unions are not participants in these. Durham SU does not have the power to end the MAB. However, we are pressuring Durham University and Durham UCU to exert their influence on the national negotiations. As a national dispute, it cannot be settled by a deal between just Durham University and the Durham branch of the UCU. The only realistic way to end the MAB is through a national settlement between the UCU and UCEA.

That is not to say that nothing can be done locally. For example, the University has recently announced that a £500 'goodwill payment’ is to be given to all Category 4 students (students with less than 60 credits). While certainly welcome, this could have been announced earlier, and is by no means all that the University should be doing. It is good, however, that the University has begun to listen to students, and we will continue to push for a more robust response to this issue.

We must also consider the interests of the many postgraduate SU members who are participating in the MAB as members of the UCU. This means engaging with both the UCU and the University on their positions. It also means setting a tone of respect for our striking members and understanding the improvements they’re asking for. This is in no way incompatible with our support for the students impacted by the MAB.

We share many students’ frustrations about the situation and are committed to helping students negatively impacted by the MAB. We regularly get contacted by worried, confused and angry students who want us to bring an end to the situation. However, we want to be honest and realistic about the limitations to our ability to influence the situation.

There will be more information on the details of the compensation campaign soon. We hope this statement gives insight into what we are doing to advocate for you in this anxious and frustrating time.

Get in touch

If you have any questions, need support, or want to express interest in this campaign, please get in touch with info@durhamsu.com. Or individually at:

Dan - President

Deborah - Welfare and Liberation Officer

Will - UG Academic Officer

Freddy - PG Academic Officer

Skye – Opportunities

Useful links and support

Find advice on how to document interruption to your education and a range of useful other resources available on our website (these are currently being reviewed and refreshed).

• Advice on what to do if the industrial action impacts your studies  
• How to raise a formal complaint to the University 
• For all Durham SU updates visit: UCU Industrial Action @ Durham SU

SharePoint FAQs

FAQs for international students (sharepoint.com)

Frequently asked questions for continuing students (sharepoint.com)

FAQs for exchange students (sharepoint.com)

Frequently asked questions for finalists (last updated: Wednesday 30 August 2023) (sharepoint.com)