Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of the University and College Union marking and assessment boycott on student visa applications by students (a) studying at a UK higher education institution in the 2022-23 academic year and (b) who wish to apply to study at a UK higher education institution in the 2023-24 academic year; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the boycott on the international reputation of UK higher education institutions.

The department understands that the vast majority of students will remain unaffected by the industrial action and, in most cases, will receive their full results on time and progress and/or graduate as normal.

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has published research findings which surveyed 49% of higher education (HE) institutions in the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. These institutions provided updated feedback on the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students at their institutions:

• Over 70% of HE institutions said that ‘less than 2% of students’ will be unable to graduate this summer due to the boycott.
• A further 20% were ‘unsure’ of the number.
• 4% of HE institutions said ‘between 2% and 9% of students’ would be impacted.

These research findings can be accessed at: https://www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/23june23/.

On 22 June 2023, I met with Universities UK (UUK), the Russell Group, and UCEA to better understand the impact that this boycott will have on students and the mitigating actions their members are taking to protect students’ interests.

I have also written to the Russell Group and UUK, encouraging them to continue to do everything within their powers to protect the interests of students during this phase of industrial action. On 27 June 2023, I met with a number of HE representative groups to discuss the marking and assessment boycott, including the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests.

HE institutions are working on minimising the disruption to their students in a variety of ways, including reallocating marking to other staff members, and hiring external markers. Many HE institutions can award degrees when they have enough evidence of a student’s prior attainment to do so. Others will be able to assign provisional grades to students to allow them to progress.

The government believes students should be at the heart of the HE system. This is why we set up the Office for Students (OfS) to regulate the HE sector in England, protect student rights, and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. The OfS has published guidance to students on their rights during industrial action at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-rights-and-welfare/student-guide-to-industrial-action/.

On 12 June 2023, the OfS wrote to institutions affected by the boycott to reiterate its expectations in relation to its conditions of registration. The OfS will continue to monitor this ongoing situation through their normal regulatory mechanisms.

Students who have complaints about their HE experience should contact their provider in the first instance. Students in England and Wales may also raise a complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), which was set up to provide an alternative to the courts and is free of charge to students. Further information is available at: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.

We are exercising operational discretion to ensure students can still apply to the graduate route whilst the marking and assessment boycott continues.

If it is necessary for a student who intends to apply to the ‘graduate’ route to apply to extend their permission whilst waiting for their results due to the boycott, they will be exceptionally exempt from meeting academic progression requirements. All other requirements of the ‘student’ route, including having a new confirmation of acceptance for studies, will still need to be met.

This a discretionary arrangement and not a concessionary policy. It is being communicated in a way that is proportionate to the nature and type of the issue covered. We encourage the sector, including sponsors, to drive the dissemination of this flexibility, as the circumstances are the result of a dispute between institutions and their employees.

We have a world class university sector, with four institutions in the world’s top 10, and the government fully expects the UK to continue to be a major destination of choice for international students.

We hope all parties can reach an agreement that delivers good value for students, staff and universities, so further industrial action can be avoided.  The department will continue to engage with the HE sector over the coming weeks to help better understand the boycott’s impact on students and the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests.