Marking boycott cancelled

The marking boycott has been called off, it was announced today.

The announcement comes following the news that the boycott was postponed. Initially set to take place on 8th April, it was delayed to 6th May to allow members to vote regarding the proposal.

UEA’s Pro Vice Chancellor Neil Ward said: “I am pleased to announce that the planned national marking boycott has been cancelled today after UCU members voted to accept a pay offer for the 2014/15 academic year.

Therefore, we now expect that there will be no disruption to the marking of any coursework or exams this year and if you are a final year student please be assured that graduation will proceed as usual.”

UEA lecturers had received a 13% pay cut in real terms since 2009, despite living costs increasing at a rate well above inflation. While academic staff received a reduction in wages, UEA’s vice-chancellor Edward Acton received a salary rise of 8.6% last year.

The news comes as a relief to many students graduating in the summer – as UEA students graduate much earlier than other universities, the disruptions would have been severe.

Third year Ecology student Harry Hopwood said: “After nearly three years of study, the last thing I wanted to hear was that my graduation could be delayed at the final hurdle, especially over a dispute that didn’t directly involve me.

I am relieved to hear it’s been cancelled – it’s certainly easier heading into the exams knowing that there are no potential difficulties on the horizon! I am also pleased for the UCU members – while the potential marking boycott was not an ideal situation, I completely agreed with what they were campaigning for, so I’m very happy that they were able to come to a settlement that was satisfactory.

I had no idea if it would be cancelled or not so the news came as a bit of a shock but it’s great for everyone involved!”

What do you think of the news? Should UCU staff have accepted the pay rise? Let us know in the comments section.