By Vanessa Huang
The University and College Union (UCU) withdrew its marking boycott on 6 September, following a vote from members of the Union.
The marking boycott was an escalation in the dispute between the UCU and university employers over the issues of pay and working conditions.
The boycott, which began on 20 April, saw staff across 145 universities in the UK withdraw from their marking duties. The boycott was due to end at the expiration of the current mandate for industrial action – the end of September – but the UCU withdrew the action ahead of time.
Staff at LSE who either self-declared their participation or were believed to be participating in the marking boycott faced a 50% deduction in pay. Following the withdrawal of the boycott, ‘a joint agreement’ between LSE and LSE UCU was reached where LSE staff will now submit any outstanding marking by early October.
The marking boycott has meant that thousands of students across the UK were left with incomplete marks from the 2022/23 academic year. To account for this impact, special regulations on degree progression and graduation were introduced for students at LSE.
Continuing students with only a partial mark profile were generally permitted to progress to the next year of study. Graduating students with a partial mark profile that met a certain threshold, were issued a provisional degree classification; graduating students with insufficient marks to meet the threshold were issued a letter to explain their situation in place of a degree certificate.
LSE declined to reveal the extent to which the marking boycott affected graduating students’ degree classifications, following a Freedom of Information request made by The Beaver.
An LSE spokesperson commented: “We welcome the resolution to the Marking and Assessment Boycott, recognising the impact this has had on our School community, and especially for individuals who experienced disruption.
“We are grateful for the constructive tone the UCU branch officers brought to discussions. We have reached a joint agreement locally in return for outstanding marks being submitted by 2 October.
“The process for completing and submitting all outstanding assessment marks is now taking place and continuing students and finalist postgraduate students have been contacted directly.
“We understand that there will be a range of views about LSE’s approach to pay deductions and have been mindful throughout of how committed staff are to the work that they do. While we actively play our part at a national level to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible, and work with our unions on important issues locally, we must balance this with our shared commitment to support students. We have also taken into consideration decisions made in the wider sector, including at peer institutions, given that this is a national dispute.”
