Industrial Action – Senate Office Advice and Guidance for Students

Published: 20 March 2018

In response to the disruption to learning and teaching consequent upon the recent industrial action by some members of staff, the following advice and guidance is issued from the Senate Office to provide reassurance to students.

In response to the disruption to learning and teaching consequent upon the recent industrial action by some members of staff, the following advice and guidance is issued from the Senate Office to provide reassurance to students.

Rescheduling of classes
Wherever practicable, classes cancelled due to the industrial action will be rescheduled and/or alternative learning opportunities provided. The manner in which this is done is the responsibility of the relevant School or Research Institute and students should keep in close contact with their School/RI for up to date advice.

If possible, the rescheduled class(es) should be held during Semester 2. However, as only one teaching week remains in the semester, this may not be possible, so other weeks may be used by Schools and RIs, recognising the inconvenience that this may entail for both students and staff.

Possible weeks for rescheduled classes are:

  • Week beginning 19 March (the last week of the teaching semester);
  • Week beginning 16 April. This is a revision/consolidation week when students are back in session, but before the Spring examination diet starts on Monday 23 April. Many staff traditionally use this week to meet with students to provide revision/consolidation sessions.
  • Week beginning 26 March. There is the possibility that the first week of the Spring vacation may be used as a last resort. However, it is recognised that this may be unsatisfactory for many students and staff as field classes, personal travel and holidays may already be arranged, and it is unreasonable for students and staff to cancel these arrangements at such short notice. The Easter weekend also falls at the end of this week. Consequently, Schools and RIs will think very carefully before using this week. The SRC has asked that if any classes are arranged during this week, they should be recorded so that those students who are unable to attend are not significantly disadvantaged.

Undergraduate dissertations
In cases where students have not received scheduled dissertation supervision and/or access to specialist facilities such as laboratories, during the period of industrial action, a one-week extension should be applied to the dissertation submission date for all students in the cohort. This is irrespective of whether the missed supervision/access to facilities was re-scheduled after the end of the industrial action, or whether all/only some students in the cohort missed some supervision. Schools/RIs will be flexible and reasonable in agreeing new submission dates.

Summative coursework
All coursework submitted during the industrial action will be marked and this marking and associated feedback should be completed according to normal timescales applicable from the end of the period of industrial action.

As with dissertations, Schools/RIs will be flexible and reasonable in agreeing new submission dates in cases where original submission dates for coursework were disrupted due to the industrial action.

Submission dates for coursework assignments following the industrial action may also be extended by Schools and RIs where learning opportunities have been disrupted, as it may be necessary to alter the content of the assignment, or to provide additional time to catch up on re-scheduled or alternative learning opportunities.

For students who are not due to graduate in June/July 2018, where possible, arrangements may be made to re-schedule the assessment opportunity either over the summer or in the next academic year.

Examination preparation
The Spring diet of examinations will go ahead as scheduled. Subject areas have been asked to ensure that adequate learning opportunities have been provided to students for all areas covered in the Spring examinations.

To be clear, students will NOT be assessed on course content for which they have not been prepared (whether by means of taught classes or alternative learning opportunities, such as directed study, Moodle materials, use of annotated reading lists etc).

Boards of examiners
Boards of Examiners will be advised of any courses where some marks may be missing as a result of the industrial action, or where there has been disruption to the assessment even though work has been assessed. Boards of Examiners will also be advised of any assessments which have been deferred on the basis of disruption due to industrial action.

Boards of Examiners may take these circumstances into account for such courses when considering any borderline cases.

John Briggs
Clerk of Senate and Vice Principal
19 March 2018


First published: 20 March 2018