Industrial action

This action is due to University and College Union Edinburgh’s (UCUE’s) dispute over the actions being taken by the University to address sector-wide financial challenges.

You can find out more about University finances and actions we are taking on our dedicated webpage:

University finances: your questions answered

We are continuing to engage with our joint trade unions on the changes needed to address our financial challenges.

We recognise this is an anxious and uncertain time for staff and will continue formal consultation with trade unions, always seeking to avoid compulsory redundancies.

The decision by UCUE to take industrial action prematurely ended the agreement we reached in December 2025. We are disappointed to see our students being deliberately targeted and do not believe further escalation was necessary. 

UCUE members are taking continuous action short of strike from 30 March 2026. This includes working to contract, not covering for colleagues, not rescheduling lectures, assessments or classes cancelled due to strike action, not sharing/uploading materials related to lectures or classes that will have been cancelled as a result of strike action, not undertaking any voluntary activities, undertaking a boycott of administrative work related to implementing the cuts, and undertaking a boycott of the Time Allocation Survey.

While any industrial action will naturally have an impact on the University’s operations, please be aware that not all staff will be taking part. We want to minimise the impact on you as much as possible and will work to limit disruption to the delivery of learning and teaching, assessment, progression and student experience, whilst maintaining academic standards.

The planned action does not currently include a marking and assessment boycott and will not therefore affect your course marking – including marking of exams and dissertations, resit assessments, Boards of Examiners and progression decisions – at this time.

We respect the right of our staff to join a picket line and these usually form outside of buildings that get lots of visitors. Staff who join this line may take the opportunity to share their opinions on the strike action, but they will respect the people’s right to cross the line into buildings as they wish.

It is not an illegal act to cross a picket line in the UK. 

Please be aware that if your classes are running, you are expected to attend these as normal, and no alternative teaching or assessments will be offered in these circumstances.

For some courses, attendance and participation in classes contributes to the overall assessment for the course, and some students will have other assessment activities such as presentations scheduled during the period of industrial action. If your classes are running, you are expected to attend these as normal, and no alternative teaching or assessments will be offered in these circumstances.

Where you have been set coursework, you should work towards submitting this on time, as usual, and work on the assumption that normal penalties will continue to apply to late or non-submission of coursework. This includes deadlines falling on planned strike days.

Schools will take steps to ensure that exam questions accurately reflect the content delivered during the teaching semester.

If any exam paper contains a question on material not delivered due to strike action this will be brought to the attention of the Board of Examiners in order that it can take these circumstances into consideration.

Schools will continue to meet published deadlines for the return of feedback to students wherever possible. However, the industrial action may mean that some feedback is returned later than expected. The University has however asked all Schools to prioritise teaching and assessment activities over other work where possible, in order to minimise any delays.

Boards of Examiners who decide upon results have a responsibility to ensure that students have a fair opportunity to demonstrate performance against the learning outcomes. Marks for exams and assessment go through a moderation process to ensure that they are a fair reflection of students’ abilities. Please be assured that Boards of Examiners who consider your course and programme results will be given detailed information about the impact of any disruption to each of your courses, so that they can take this into account when deciding your results and making decisions on your progression and degree award.

The industrial action is unlikely to have any impact on your studies at your host institution. If you need support from your Exchange Coordinator or Student Adviser at the University and they are participating in the industrial action there may, however, be a delay in their response. If this is the case, we advise that you get in touch with your contact in the Study and Work Away Service.

There may be delays for students waiting to hear back from the Study and Work Away Service. Staff may also be on strike and SWAY will prioritise the most urgent queries.

Study and Work Away Service

The Exceptional Circumstances Service will continue to operate during the industrial action. If you need to request a coursework extension, please use this service as usual.

Exceptional Circumstances Service

If you choose not to attend a class because of any strike action, and attendance is recorded, you will be marked as absent. 

Please remember that if you have a student visa you are required to demonstrate regular engagement with your studies as a condition of your visa. If you choose not to attend a class because of any strike action and miss teaching or assessment activities as a result, you should continue to engage with your studies more broadly to ensure there is no impact to your visa. Your School can advise you on how engagement is monitored.

Vivas and annual progression reviews are not affected by the action short of strike. You should work on the basis that your viva (oral examination) or annual progression review meeting will go ahead as planned, and submit your thesis on schedule. However, if you have a viva or annual progression review scheduled on a strike date, you should contact your School Postgraduate/Graduate office to confirm that this is going ahead as planned. 

You should work on the basis that supervision meetings will go ahead as planned, and prepare to attend these. However, if you have a supervision meeting scheduled on a strike date, you should contact your Supervisor to confirm that this is going ahead as planned.

If you do not receive a response from your Student Adviser during the period of industrial action, you should contact the Student Advisers team or Graduate School office within your School.

Our EdHelp team is also available if you have any questions about student services:

EdHelp

During the industrial action, the University will remain open as usual. You will be able to continue to access the library and all our support services, although there may be delays in some areas.

Many academic activities will continue to operate as normal, although some areas may be functioning with fewer staff.