UCU marking and assessment boycott: further information, July 2023

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to update you on the withholding of pay for those who have declared their participation in the marking and assessment boycott, and to confirm that the first date for pay deductions has been pushed back to November to enable individual case reviews to take place where these have been requested.

Review of individual cases

Marking and assessment activity makes up a significant proportion of the workload for most staff in student-facing roles (whether academic or professional services), particularly at this time of year. For this reason, and as participating in the boycott represents a partial performance of contractual duties, those participating in the boycott are due to have 50% of their pay withheld for the period 24 April – 6 July.

If you have declared your participation in the boycott and consider that the application of this approach is unjust in your individual case, you can request that your case is reviewed. We will be providing more details about this process soon.

Any individual cases will be considered at the end of the boycott when information about participation in the MAB across the full boycott period is available. UCU states that the boycott is continuous under the current mandate until the end of September 2023.

Withholding of pay

The period of central assessment at UCL began on 24 April 2023 and runs until the release of marks on 6 July. We therefore consider that anyone who participates in the boycott during this time will be boycotting for the entire period of 24 April to 6 July and will have 50% of pay withheld for this time.

The withholding of pay was due to be implemented from participating staff’s July 2023 salary, on a phased basis across a three-month period (July-September) until the total 50% deduction for the entire 24 April – 6 July period has been recovered. However, the date that pay will start to be withheld from has now been postponed to enable any reviews of individual cases to take place. Staff participating in the boycott will now start to see pay withheld from their November 2023 salary, on a phased basis across a three-month period (November–January). This will be done at 0.5/365 of annual salary of the rate earned during the boycott period (including London Allowance if received) per day.

We will not withhold pay for participation in other forms of ASoS, which have been ongoing since November 2022, and for which staff are not required to declare their participation.

Given that the marking and assessment boycott is continuous under the current mandate until the end of September and during which, for example, late Summer assessments and postgraduate taught dissertation submissions take place, we reserve the right to introduce a second period of pay deductions for individuals that participate beyond 6 July. We will communicate any decision relating to this in advance of any such period.

What have students been told?

We are sharing the latest update we have given students which shares information on what they can expect on Results Day on Thursday 6 July. This update expands on the information published in May.

This is an anxious time for many students, and we must do all that we can to support them. For the most up to date information about modules and programmes, students should contact their Department in the first instance, and Departments should provide appropriate contact points for this.

The student FAQs page is being regularly updated with all the latest information. If you have further questions that cannot be answered by your department, please submit these through askUCL selecting the ‘Marking and Assessment Boycott’ category.

Students who are worried about the impact on their mental health and wellbeing should contact UCL's Support and Wellbeing (SSW) team who provide a safe, confidential, and non-judgmental space for them to discuss any issues.

Students can visit the Support and Wellbeing webpages,  or contact them through askUCL. It is important to remind students that SSW are unable to help with any results queries.

We will continue to keep you updated.

Donna Dalrymple, Chief People Officer, UCL