Industrial action

Marking and Assessment Boycott Ended

From Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education & Student Experience

I am pleased to be able to let you know that the local branch of the UCU has accepted the proposal we made on 23 March and that the local marking and assessment boycott has now been brought to an end. You can read our joint statement with UCU in full for more on the background to this.

This means that the marking and assessment of your work has been resumed as normal. Any marking that was not carried out due to the boycott will now be prioritised and we anticipate all of this will be completed by early May at the latest.

I would like to thank you all for your patience during what has been a really difficult time for you. You have faced significant disruption this term for which I am sincerely sorry – I hope this news will go some way to helping you focus on your studies and experience at Kent for the remainder of the year.

Ongoing national issues  

As I said in my email last week, we are continuing our talks with the UCU on the national issues in the hope that together we can come to a resolution that avoids any further action at Kent.

Expenses claims – strike action  

If you incurred any expenses because of the strikes by the UCU and you would like to claim these back, please would you make sure you do so by this Friday 8 April. You will find the claim form and guidance on the student webpages.

My thanks again to all of you for your continued hard work throughout this period of disruption. I would also like to wish you all a peaceful and restorative break. I know that the last term has been challenging, both due to industrial action and as we have adapted together to the return of face-to-face activities.

I wish you all the very best as we head into the exam term – look out for an email later this week with more information on the support available to you throughout this time.

With all good wishes,

Richard

Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education & Student Experience