Universities are in talks to hire private exam markers from Australia, as lecturer strikes threaten to derail graduations.
A boycott of marking essays and exams has been called at 22 universities across the country, including five belonging to the Russell Group of top-flight institutions, as part of the University and College Union’s latest round of strikes.
The union, which is locked in a bitter four-year stand-off with bosses, has warned it “could stop hundreds of thousands of students from graduating” this summer – sparking fury from undergraduates fed up with Covid and strike-related disruption.
Now, university chiefs are scrambling to draw up contingency plans – with Queen Mary, University of London, allegedly considering hiring Curio, an Australian higher education consultancy firm, to give students their grades instead.
UCU’s branch for the Russell Group university said on Twitter:
>BREAKING: We have learned that QMUL management is considering using external staff from Curio, an Australian Higher Education consultancy curio_group, to try to break our marking boycott and grade student essays. A 🧵 on #TheCuriosCase: 1/13
>
>QMUL Principal Colin Bailey recently wrote to all students promising them they would graduate on time with all academic standards upheld. If external consultants are brought in to mark essays that promise has already been broken. 2/13
>
>Paying outside staff with no familiarity with the course content to mark essays would massively undermine academic standards and would devalue QMUL degrees. Students deserve better. 3/13
>
>Students at QMUL have a right to expect that qualified teachers who have taught them throughout the year should mark their work. 4/13
Meanwhile at Newcastle University, another member of the Russell Group, bosses have introduced a “no detriment” safety net policy. This would give students their average mark from across the year, rather than their exam marks, if their assessments are boycotted.
A temporary average mark from their previous assignments will be awarded if the boycott takes place. Afterwards, any outstanding marks will only be able to increase – not decrease – the degree classification.
The university said this “will ensure that students can progress to the next stage of their programme, or graduate, with the reassurance that their academic outcomes will not have been seriously affected by industrial action”.
At the University of Sheffield, another impacted by the action, students have been invited to apply for extenuating circumstances if they are affected.
However, the UCU was in retreat on Friday as it said a “deadlock” on its higher education committee meant some branches scrapped their marking boycotts at the last minute.
This included Durham University, where 1,000 students threatened to withhold their tuition fees and staff were offered a £1,000 one-off payment if they refused to strike.
‘Duty to protect students’
Dozens of UCU campus branches at universities across the country have been on strike over pay, pensions and working conditions since 2018. Lecturers at more than 40 institutions are still on a form of strike, including the 22 still launching a marking boycott.
Raj Jethwa, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association, said: “HE institutions have a duty to protect their students and they are legally entitled to fully withhold pay for this boycott.”
Curio, which Queen Mary paid £10,500 in 2020 to help it transition to online learning, has been contacted for comment.
A Queen Mary spokesman said: “Less than two per cent of our staff have taken strike action so far. We have been clear from the outset that our first priority is to protect all our students’ education and experience in the areas affected, and to uphold academic quality and standards.”
I can’t see someone else dropping in to mark 3rd or 4th year exams with no notice and marking it correctly. First and second year are fairly generic but once students start picking options the subjects can become really specialised.
If o was a student I’d be pissed the amount of strikes and disruption they continue to get.
3 comments
Universities are in talks to hire private exam markers from Australia, as lecturer strikes threaten to derail graduations.
A boycott of marking essays and exams has been called at 22 universities across the country, including five belonging to the Russell Group of top-flight institutions, as part of the University and College Union’s latest round of strikes.
The union, which is locked in a bitter four-year stand-off with bosses, has warned it “could stop hundreds of thousands of students from graduating” this summer – sparking fury from undergraduates fed up with Covid and strike-related disruption.
Now, university chiefs are scrambling to draw up contingency plans – with Queen Mary, University of London, allegedly considering hiring Curio, an Australian higher education consultancy firm, to give students their grades instead.
UCU’s branch for the Russell Group university said on Twitter:
>BREAKING: We have learned that QMUL management is considering using external staff from Curio, an Australian Higher Education consultancy curio_group, to try to break our marking boycott and grade student essays. A 🧵 on #TheCuriosCase: 1/13
>
>QMUL Principal Colin Bailey recently wrote to all students promising them they would graduate on time with all academic standards upheld. If external consultants are brought in to mark essays that promise has already been broken. 2/13
>
>Paying outside staff with no familiarity with the course content to mark essays would massively undermine academic standards and would devalue QMUL degrees. Students deserve better. 3/13
>
>Students at QMUL have a right to expect that qualified teachers who have taught them throughout the year should mark their work. 4/13
Meanwhile at Newcastle University, another member of the Russell Group, bosses have introduced a “no detriment” safety net policy. This would give students their average mark from across the year, rather than their exam marks, if their assessments are boycotted.
A temporary average mark from their previous assignments will be awarded if the boycott takes place. Afterwards, any outstanding marks will only be able to increase – not decrease – the degree classification.
The university said this “will ensure that students can progress to the next stage of their programme, or graduate, with the reassurance that their academic outcomes will not have been seriously affected by industrial action”.
At the University of Sheffield, another impacted by the action, students have been invited to apply for extenuating circumstances if they are affected.
However, the UCU was in retreat on Friday as it said a “deadlock” on its higher education committee meant some branches scrapped their marking boycotts at the last minute.
This included Durham University, where 1,000 students threatened to withhold their tuition fees and staff were offered a £1,000 one-off payment if they refused to strike.
‘Duty to protect students’
Dozens of UCU campus branches at universities across the country have been on strike over pay, pensions and working conditions since 2018. Lecturers at more than 40 institutions are still on a form of strike, including the 22 still launching a marking boycott.
Raj Jethwa, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association, said: “HE institutions have a duty to protect their students and they are legally entitled to fully withhold pay for this boycott.”
Curio, which Queen Mary paid £10,500 in 2020 to help it transition to online learning, has been contacted for comment.
A Queen Mary spokesman said: “Less than two per cent of our staff have taken strike action so far. We have been clear from the outset that our first priority is to protect all our students’ education and experience in the areas affected, and to uphold academic quality and standards.”
I can’t see someone else dropping in to mark 3rd or 4th year exams with no notice and marking it correctly. First and second year are fairly generic but once students start picking options the subjects can become really specialised.
If o was a student I’d be pissed the amount of strikes and disruption they continue to get.