Industrial Action

Where marks are unavailable due to the marking and assessment boycott, the Exceptional Assessment Regulations will be applied. These regulations apply only to undergraduate and postgraduate taught students. If you are a postgraduate research student and have any concerns relating to the boycott, please contact your supervisor or Student Information Office in your Faculty.

• If you have any questions or concerns about your progression outcome, please contact your Faculty in the first instance.
• The Students’ Union Advice and Support Centre is also available to offer you advice and guidance. The University Wellbeing and Welfare services are also on hand.
• If you have any concerns about the progression decision you have received and what this means for your student finance, please see our Money@Campuslife webpages for more information.
• If you are an International Student who is concerned about how your decision might affect your visa, please contact the Student Compliance team for further advice and support.
• If your decision has been impacted by the boycott and you need some assistance in helping to explain how this has affected your progression decision at this current time, then the MyUniHub team are able to provide you with a letter to explain this. Please complete this form and they will send you a letter of support.

A Marking and Assessment boycott is a form of Action Short of a Strike and covers all marking and assessment processes that contribute to summative assessment decisions for students/learners, whether final (i.e. graduation/completion) or interim (i.e. progression decisions).

Duties included as part of a Marking and Assessment boycott will include not marking and providing feedback, holding back marks from being uploaded, not attending exam boards, not moderating assessments, not allocating assessments to Teaching Assistants, not writing assessments and not attending exams, vivas and oral presentations. This Marking and Assessment boycott commenced on 20th April 2023 and ended on the 6th September. 

Why are staff taking industrial action?

Universities across the UK are involved in the action due to the UCU dispute over changes to the USS pension scheme – which many University staff are part of - and separately over a dispute to the national pay claim.

It is important to note that these are national campaigns and do not focus on Swansea University. Therefore, it is expected that there will be industrial action in universities across the UK.  

This marking and assessment boycott has been mandated at a national level and we are therefore unable to come to any local arrangements to end the action. We are however committed to working with our Campus Unions and Universities UK to ensure that a solution is found that is equitable and fair to all. 

The MyUniHub team will be able to provide you with an interim statement explaining that confirmation of your award or progression will be delayed due to the boycott if you have been affected. An online form to submit a request will be available on publication of results.

Universities you may be progressing onto for further study with will have their own mitigations in place to deal with applicants whose awards have been delayed due to the boycott. If your award is delayed, Swansea University can assist you with communicating with them.

Tuition fees contribute to many areas of your University experience, alongside learning and teaching, such as facilities, services, including the Library, and pastoral and extracurricular provision.

We are committed to ensuring our students can achieve their learning outcomes and are not disadvantaged by industrial action.

In line with other Universities across the UK, we are not planning any reduction in fees or the refunding of tuition fees.

If any student wishes to express any form of dissatisfaction relating to the Marking and Assessment boycott, they may use the University’s Complaints Procedure.