Strike Action FAQs

The strike action is taking place as follows:

Continuous action short of strike – beginning on Thursday 12 March. This comprises working to contract; not covering for colleagues; not rescheduling lectures, classes or activities cancelled due to strike action; not sharing/ uploading materials related to lectures, classes or activities cancelled due to strike action and not undertaking any voluntary duties.

Strike action – Thursday 12, Friday 13, Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 March.

You should continue to seek advice and guidance from academic staff as normal. Should a member of staff indicate that they are not able to help due to the Strike then you should contact the Head of School (via the School Office) to seek the advice/guidance you require.

Where classes or planned revision sessions are scheduled, Schools will inform you, where possible, by email in advance of any such cancellation. If you have not been informed of any cancellations, you should assume that your classes will go ahead as planned, although you should be aware that some classes may need to be cancelled at very short notice. 

Yes. You are expected to attend scheduled classes where there has been no prior notification that the class has been cancelled. Please note any material covered could form part of future assessments.

No. Some academic and some administrative staff may choose to take strike action but the University will remain open and many staff will be at work as usual.

You will not be disadvantaged as a result of any teaching missed due to the strike action. Any aspect of teaching missed as a consequence of the industrial action will not form part of any assessment associated with the course. 

You will not be disadvantaged as a result of any cancelled tutorial or laboratory class due to the strike action. Unless covered in other areas of the course, the material covered at these sessions will not form part of any assessment for this course.

No. You should ensure that you meet the stated deadlines for submission of your in-course assessments. The penalties for late submission will not be relaxed. 

You will not be disadvantaged as a result of any teaching which is cancelled. Any material missed as a consequence of the strike action will not form part of any assessment for the course.

Heads of School will know which courses have been affected and will ensure that the examiners are made aware of this situation in determining the overall CGS grade for the courses concerned.

If the learning outcomes that are assessed by the written examinations are different to those assessed by course work, then there would be no grounds of appeal. If, however, the examinations relate directly to the course work, for which no feedback had been provided, then this will be 
expressly brought to the attention of the examiners, including the External Examiner, who will be asked to take this into account in determining students’ overall CGS grade for such courses. Provided this was taken into account, there would be no grounds of appeal.

If the industrial action has any impact on your course (e.g. provision of course materials, access to tutor support or return of assessed work) your School will notify you. You will not be disadvantaged as a result of any teaching content which is not delivered as a result of the strike action. Any material missed will not form part of any assessment for the course.

The University will be open as normal during the strike. It is therefore unlikely that the action will have any impact on your studies. In the unlikely event that there is a problem with assessment of your dissertation or your viva, your Head of School will put in place alternative arrangements.

If you have queries about a specific course, you should contact the relevant School Office in the first instance. General queries should be directed to academicservices@abdn.ac.uk.