Industrial action

What are the issues under dispute and can the University resolve them??

• The dispute concerns pay rises and pension contributions that are set at a national level for all universities, so it cannot be resolved at the University of Nottingham alone. However, action is already being taken that would address some of the grievances expressed in the industrial action.
• Universities have implemented a revised national pay offer for 2023-24 for staff who are covered by the national pay settlement. This will provide a national uplift for 2023-24 of either 5% or 6% depending on their point on the pay spine.
• Whilst the full award will be payable from 1 August 2023, a 2% uplift or £1,000 – whichever is the greater – has been paid backdated to 1 February 2023.
• UCEA has also advised that around half of the staff covered within national negotiations are also eligible for an additional pay progression increase (increment), this will apply from 1 August 2023 and is expected to be a further 3% increase.
• Pay for staff at lower grades is negotiated locally and the University is implementing a three-year pay offer for these staff of 8.2% in year 1, and a 3-year total of 18.5% that exceeds any other offer available in the higher education sector. This is in addition to reforms that will also see these staff receive increased annual leave, pension benefits and enhanced pay rates for bank holiday and closure days.
• Nottingham is also introducing Graduate Teaching Assistant contracts to end the use of so-called casual contracts, which will be extended to all Schools for the 2023/24 academic year.
• Backed up by £1.3 billion support from universities, reforms were introduced in April to the USS pension to tackle a significant deficit in the scheme and keep contribution rates for members affordable. A new, full valuation of the scheme is scheduled for March 2023.
• The latest quarterly monitoring figures of the USS pension scheme continue to show an improvement in the scheme’s financial position since the last valuation. In a statement issued on Friday 17 February, Universities UK and UCU said this would allow for a return to a comparable level of future benefits as existed before the April 2022 changes, as well as achieve a reduction in costs for members and employers.

How might picket lines affect me?

• Picketing is where staff taking part in industrial action gather outside their place of work in order to seek to persuade others not to work. Picketing is only allowed at or near entrances to and exits from the picket's own place of work.
• Pickets can request permission to explain their dispute to those entering or leaving the workplace - including students - however, these activities must be carried out peacefully at all times.
• Pickets do not have the right stop any person crossing the picket line; force a person to listen to them; stop any vehicle; assault, threaten, intimidate, abuse, harass or defame anyone; cause alarm or distress; or obstruct any path, road, entrance or exit.
• Please note that unless a class has been disrupted, normal attendance monitoring will take place. It is worth remembering that the student Attendance Policy means you must attend all activities to pursue your studies required by your school.

What happens to teaching and learning during industrial action?

• Please assume that teaching and learning activities are going ahead, including the supervision of projects and dissertations, and that you attend as planned unless you hear otherwise from your lecturer or School. Similarly, you should continue to submit assignments to existing deadlines.
• Schools are exploring options to reschedule lost learning wherever possible, provide catch-up resources through Moodle and extend deadlines where helpful. Please keep in touch with your School for information specific to your circumstances.

How will I know if my seminar, lecture or other session is disrupted by industrial action?

• Where sessions are likely to experience disruption, your School will endeavour to give you advance notice where at all possible. However, staff do not have to inform the University in advance that they intend to take industrial action, so this might not be possible in every case.
• Should a member of staff not arrive for a teaching session at its planned start time, you should wait for a few minutes to be sure that your lecturer is not late before leaving the room.
• Please note that unless a class has been disrupted, normal attendance monitoring will take place. It worth remembering that the student Attendance Policy means you must attend all activities to pursue your studies required by your School. 

What should I do if my session is disrupted by industrial action?

• Please accept our apologies if this does occur. Our libraries, computer rooms, and other learning environments and services will be available throughout the period to enable you to continue your studies and independent learning.
• Schools are exploring options to reschedule lost sessions where possible, provide catch-up resources through Moodle and extend deadlines where helpful. Please keep in touch with your School for information specific to your circumstances

If my sessions are disrupted and not rescheduled, how can I be assessed on those topics in examinations or assessments?

• For your assessments and exams, we will ensure that you are not disadvantaged if you have missed any learning due to the strikes, while of course maintaining the highest standards.
• Schools will ensure that assessments, exams, coursework and other assignments reflect only the learning that has taken place.
• In the event that an exam question or assessment task requires learning that has been disrupted by strikes, this would usually be changed or replaced with an equivalent question or task covering material which has been delivered.
• Assessment methods will be maintained in the same proportions, for example, 10% presentation, 30% coursework, 60% exam.
• Importantly, we will maintain our quality and standards at all times, with full regard to the Quality Assurance Agency and our Quality Manual, so that you can be assured that your exams assessments will be as robust as they always are. 

What if the assessment cannot be changed?

• On the limited occasions where an assessment cannot be changed, then Boards of Examiners would make overall adjustments to marks in recognition of the additional difficulties faced by the students on the affected module.
• The intention would be to ensure that the cancellation of teaching has no detrimental effect on any student in terms of the marks they receive. In such circumstances you would not be required to submit a claim for extenuating circumstances.

What if my viva, oral examination or presentation is disrupted?

• Should oral examinations, assessments and vivas coincide with the industrial action they will be rescheduled at the earliest opportunity. 

Will we be entitled to an extension for dissertations or other submission of work due to the industrial action?

• You should assume that any deadlines set for submitting work, including dissertations, still apply as normal. Your Schools will aim to maintain assessment deadlines, but also look at where revised deadlines might be helpful for you.
• Unless you have been told of a change to a specific submission date, the stated deadline will stand, and you will not be automatically entitled to an extension if the submission or dissertation deadline falls within the period of industrial action.
• If the industrial action has a specific detrimental impact on your personally, you might be able to make a request for Extenuating Circumstances, which supports students with exceptional, unforeseeable, short-term circumstances which affect their ability to study or take assessments.

How many students will be affected by the marking and assessment boycott?

• We believe that the majority of students will not be affected by the boycott. However, staff do not have to inform the University if they are taking part in the boycott, so we will not have a fully accurate picture until we reach the deadline for the submission of marks on Friday 16 June.
• We fully recognise that the uncertainty may cause concern, and your Schools will keep you informed on the potential and actual impact of the boycott on their programmes as the term progresses.

What will happen if the marking for my module is completed?

• If marking for your module is completed, we will use your completed mark as usual for Progression or Award consideration. 

What is a ‘part-for-whole’ mark?

• Where possible, we will use your actual marks to calculate your overall module mark. If marking hasn’t been completed for all elements of assessment, then as long as you have completed assessments worth at least 40% of the module, we will normally be able to use this as your module mark on a ‘part-for-whole’ basis. 
• This mark would count as the full number of credits for that module. For example, if you had completed 40% or more of assessment for a 20-credit module, that mark would count as 20 credits of completed marks. 

Do I have to complete all of my assessments this Semester for a ‘part-for-whole’ mark to be used?

• To qualify for use of a ‘part-for-whole’ mark to compensate for an assessment that has not been marked because of the marking boycott, you must have completed that assessment. If you don’t complete it, you will be given a mark of zero for that assessment.

I have marks for a module that are worth less than 40% of the module. Or no marks for a module but I have completed all my assessments, what overall mark will I get?

• If, because of the marking boycott, we have not been able to mark assessments worth at least 40% of your overall module mark – and you have submitted all your assessments - then we will use a derived mark based on your completed marks where possible. 
• We use completed marks from the same academic year where possible. But if you have less than 60 credits of marked work in the current year, we would look to use the previous year’s marks too. 
• We will give you that derived mark for any elements of assessment that are unmarked.

How is a derived mark calculated?

• Full information on how a derived mark is calculated is available on our Quality Manual webpages. The derived mark will be based on actual achievement from the current academic stage and level, as far as possible. If you have 60 credits of completed marks available from before the derived mark cut-off date, we will use a weighted average of those marks as your derived mark.
• If you have fewer than 60 credits of completed marks in this stage from before the derived mark cutoff date, we will include a weighted average of those marks in combination with your work from previous years.

How do you calculate the 60 credits to be used for derived marks?

• We add up the credits of your completed marks – whether these are completed through actual marks or part-for-whole marks. This will include all marks for completed modules that are available prior to the derivation cutoff date. If circumstances permit, this will also include actual marks from incomplete modules – for example, where you have marks for assessments totaling less than 40% of the module credits.
• Examples:
  • A student on a 20-credit module who has completed 100% of the assessment for that module has completed 20 credits of assessment.
  • A student on a 20-credit module who has completed 50% of the assessment for that module has completed 20 credits of assessment under the part-for-whole regulations. 
  • A student on a 20-credit module who has completed 30% of the assessment for that module has completed six credits of assessment.

What happens if I have fewer than 60 credits of completed modules in this stage and this is my first stage?

• We will not have a fully robust sample of your performance and will be unable to use a derived mark for you.  Note, we require 60 credits of completed marks (which may include completed modules but it may also be possible to include marks from summative assessment marks from incomplete modules too) to be able to calculate a derived mark.

Do I have to complete all of my assessments this Semester for a derived mark to be used?

• To qualify for a derived mark in an assessment, you must have completed that assessment. If you don’t complete it, you will be given a mark of zero for that assessment.

I am a finalist and I have marks for 40% of the assessment for a module. I understand that not everyone might want them, but I would like my actual marks because I think it would improve my grade. How will this be accounted for?

• If you have 40% of the assessment for a module, then a part-for-whole mark can be used for the entire module mark. This would feed into your classification decision.
• If your classification includes part-for-whole and/or derived marks you will be given the option to accept that decision, or to wait for your assessments to be marked, or to repeat the assessment as applicable. 
• If you opt to wait, or to repeat assessments (if required), you must do this for all your affected modules, not just particular ones. If you do, it may delay your graduation. You must accept your marks could go down as well as up. 

My classification decision includes the use of part-for-whole and derived marks. Can I choose to do resits in these assessments?

• Where your classification or progression decision uses part-for-whole or derived marks, then it is your choice whether to accept that decision or not.  If you do not accept the decision, you will be informed whether you must wait for your marks or whether you will need to do an equivalent sit of the assessment.
• We will ask you to do an equivalent sit of the assessment(s) if the original assessment(s) did not take place for reasons outside of your control or if the original assessment(s) will never be marked.  You will not be able to choose between waiting for marks or a reassessment, your school will inform you which applies to you.

I am a non-finalist who is progressing into my next year of study and I have marks for 40% of the assessment for a module. I understand that not everyone might want them, but I would like my actual marks because I think it would improve my grade. How will this be accounted for?

• If you have 40% of the assessment for a module, then a part-for-whole mark can be used for the entire module mark. This would feed into your progression decision. 
• If your progression decision includes part-for-whole and/or derived marks you will be given the option to accept that decision, or to wait for your assessments to be marked, or to repeat the assessment as applicable. 
• If you opt to wait, or to repeat assessments (if required), you must do this for all your affected modules, not just particular ones. If you do, it may delay your progression into the next academic year. You must accept that your marks could go down as well as up. 

Will all work from finalists or non-finalists eventually be marked?

• No. If students accept their progression or classification decision, any unmarked work will not be marked.

I am progressing into my next year of study with part-for-whole or derived marks. What marks will be used in my future award classification?

• If you accept your progression decision, then your unmarked work will not be marked. The marks used to determine the progression decision – whether actual, part-for-whole or derived – will be used for that year’s marks. These marks will then be used in future award calculations as relevant.  

I have a big piece of work due – can I get an extension of time?

• If you need an extension of time to complete your work, you should request one via the Extenuating Circumstances Procedure in the normal way.

My course has a Professional or Statutory Regulatory Body (PSRB) requirement, do these contingency regulations apply?

• Courses with PSRB requirements may need to make more stringent arrangements after receiving advice from the relevant body. The contingency regulations will be applied unless they are in conflict with PSRB requirements where the PSRB requirement will need to be met at the first available opportunity.

What if I haven’t satisfied all of the Programme Learning Outcomes because of work that has not been marked?

• In those cases, you will need to wait for your work to be marked.

Will I have enough information to make an informed decision about accepting part-for-whole derived marks, or waiting for an equivalent sit?

• You will know your provisional classification and your marks for each module, before you are offered the option of either accepting the progression/classification decision or to obtain your actual marks. If you choose not to accept your decision, you can either wait for your work to be marked, or if there was no original assessment or the work will never be marked, you can take your assessments again and then wait for them to be marked. 
• You will be informed if part-for-whole or derived marks have been applied to your modules.
• In some modules, all students will be impacted. In others, only a few may be impacted. In modules where only some students have been affected, students can request further information to understand whether their marks are actual, part-for-whole or derived.
• There will be a period in which you can opt to wait for actual marks or to repeat assessments where applicable. If you do not respond by the deadlines, it will be assumed that your progression and classification decision are accepted. 

I’ve heard that a derived mark may be used this year – why is there no safety net option like students benefited from in 2019/2020?

• The Covid-19 pandemic was very different to the situation that we are in now. Industrial action presents a serious disruption, but it is over in relatively few days and it can be mitigated for. The pandemic impacted health and wellbeing and potentially affected the performance of all students. The marking and assessment boycott does not affect student performance, but rather the assessment of student performance.
• The majority of students will progress and be classified as usual this year. The Contingency Regulations should offer students reassurance that the Uni has properly thought-out regulations ready. They uphold the quality of our degrees by ensuring that we can safely progress and graduate most of the students affected by the marking boycott.
• The university’s Contingency Regulations allow for a ‘derived mark’ or a ‘part-for-whole’ mark  to be calculated for you and for this to substitute for missing marks. They will only be used where actual marks are not available at the time of the exam board cut off deadline.   
• Students will know if their classification/progression grade has used derived /part-for-whole marks before they decide if they wish to accept the decision or wait for marking to be completed/take an equivalent assessment (if applicable). 
• You do not have to accept derived/part-for-whole marks and can choose to wait for all your work to be marked (or an equivalent sit assessment, if applicable). If you wait for work to be marked/equivalent sit, your overall marks could go up or down as assessment has been undertaken and actual marks based on your performance will be used.

I’ve heard that the university’s borderline regulations have changed. Why isn’t the change being delayed given the current use of Contingency Regulations?

• This regulation has already been implemented. The university’s borderline classification regulations were changed for students entering qualifying year on undergraduate programmes from September 2020.    
• The change to regulations made in September 2020 will apply for the first time this summer for students who started three-year undergraduate programmes that year.  This represents no change to the regulations students entered under. The change was made to protect the quality of our degrees and addresses the grade inflation concerns of the Office for Students.

I’m a PGT student who will be doing my dissertation/project over the summer. Can a derived mark be used if my dissertation isn’t marked?

• The 60 credit-masters Dissertation/Project is treated separately and cannot be substituted by a ‘derived mark’ or ‘provisional derived mark’. It is possible to apply a part-for-whole mark for PGT projects/dissertation if at least 50% of the module assessment is complete, learning outcomes are met and PSRBs approve. The outcome of the dissertation/project should be used alongside the outcome for the taught modules to determine the final classification.

If I don’t have all of my marks for the taught stage of my PGT programme can I still progress to my dissertation?

• For PGT taught modules where the dissertation/project stage does not have a pre-requisite of any of the taught modules, you can progress to the dissertation stage.
• For PGT taught modules where the dissertation module has a pre-requisite of one or more taught stage modules for ‘progression’ onto the dissertation stage, your Head of School will consider whether you can progress or proceed to the dissertation stage even if marks are not complete.

I am doing a PG Certificate – if my work isn’t marked in time for an exam board can a derived mark be used for me?

• For PG Certificate students we cannot offer a derived mark as we do not have a sufficient body of past marks to draw on.

I am doing a PG Diploma – if my work isn’t marked in time for an exam board can a derived mark be used for me?

• Provided you have completed at least 60 credits of modules with marks then it will be possible to derive a mark where needed/applicable.
• If you have not completed at least 60 credits of modules then we cannot offer a derived mark as we do not have a sufficient body of past marks to draw from.

I’ve done an undergraduate dissertation/project this year, if this isn’t marked will I get a derived mark for it?

• Actual marks will be used for exam boards if they are available before the exam board cut off deadline. If a mark is not available, your derived or part-for-whole mark may be used for the missing mark. Where a derived/part-for-whole mark has been used you will have a choice of accepting the derived/part-for-whole mark in your award or progression decision or waiting for the actual mark and/or taking an equivalent sit opportunity (if applicable).
• Your Head of School (or nominee) must satisfy themselves that students meet the programme-level learning outcomes and meet with the approval of any relevant PSRB.  If those conditions cannot be met by a student, then that student may not be classified until the final marks are received.

If I accept my derived marks and my work is marked in the future and I fail, will I have to do resits?

• If you accept a classification/progression decision which includes derived or part for whole marks  then that work will not be marked and your progression or award status will be unaffected as actual marks will not subsequently replace derived or part for whole marks for you.

If I’m dissatisfied can I appeal?

• The majority of students will progress and be classified as usual this year. Many students will be unaffected and for those that are, the Contingency Regulations provide reassurance for students.
• If part for whole or derived marks have been used for you then you have the choice of whether to accept these or wait for work to be marked/equivalent sit (as applicable). This would not normally represent grounds for appeal. The University’s appeal process is published on our academic appeal webpages.

If I’m dissatisfied can I complain?

• You are able to use the University’s complaints procedure to express dissatisfaction about the university’s action or lack of action, or about the service provided by or on behalf of the university.  You are encouraged to provide feedback through the appropriate school or department representative, Students’ Union, Learning Community Forum (LCF) or service provider in a prompt and constructive manner.
• The University’s complaints procedure is available on our Academic Serivces webpages.

How will the strikes affect my Visa in terms of my attendance record?

• Your Tier 4 visa conditions are not affected by the industrial action. Unless you are specifically advised that a session has been disrupted, you should attend as normal, and the normal processes for attendance monitoring will apply to sessions which are not disrupted.
• If a session is disrupted due to industrial action, this will be recorded by the University as a cancelled session, and this will not have a detrimental impact on your attendance record for the purposes of your Tier 4 visa. 

As an international student, do I still need to ask for permission if I want to return to my home country during the period of industrial action? What are the implications for my visa?

• The industrial action does not change the normal requirements for compliance in terms of your Tier 4 study visa. You should continue to request permission for absences in the normal way.

Can I request compensation or a refund of fees?

• Given the actions we are taking to minimise disruption, any circumstances giving rise to a right to financial compensation are unlikely to arise.
• The University will remain open throughout the strike action. Libraries, computer rooms, and services will be available to enable students to continue studies and independent learning.
• Student fees cover a very wide range of services, not just tuition, and our focus remains on addressing any disruption where it occurs, rather than providing financial recompense.
• Of course, if students are demonstrably affected by strike action, a complaint can be raised through the recognised Student Complaints Policy - and students can also contact the Students' Union Advice Centre for advice - with evidence in support of the complaint.

Why do you deduct salary from staff who take strike action, and what will you do with it?

• It is standard employment practice not to pay staff who are on strike for the time they are not working.
• During periods of industrial action, the University will reinvest the money not paid to striking staff to support students who are affected by strikes and the cost-of-living crisis.