Strike Action FAQs

No. Most students will be taught as planned.

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 industrial action then you should contact the Head of School 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. Those taking part in the industrial action are not required to inform the University ahead of time so it is not always possible to provide prior notice of cancellations. 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 be cancelled at very short notice. Should your lecturer / tutor not be in the class, you should go to the School Office.

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 industrial action but the University will remain open and most staff will be at work as usual.

You will not be disadvantaged as a result of any teaching missed due to the industrial action. Your course coordinator may restructure the teaching to ensure you have not missed any important introductory materials. Any aspect of teaching missed as a consequence of the industrial action will not form part of any assessment associated with the course. Where teaching is essential for accreditation reasons, your School will ensure that mitigations are put in place to ensure all essential learning is covered.

You will not be disadvantaged as a result of any cancelled tutorial or laboratory class due to the industrial 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.

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 Industrial action. Any material missed will not form part of any assessment for the course.

The industrial action will not involve any teaching staff based at the Qatar campus. If the industrial action impacts any visiting teaching staff or the delivery of course materials or assessment provided by Aberdeen-based staff, staff at AFG College will inform you. You will not be disadvantaged as a result of any teaching content which is not delivered as a result of the industrial action. Any materials missed will not form part of any assessment for the course.

It is not anticipated that the industrial action will impact delivery of teaching by the University of Aberdeen at the SCNU Joint Institute. Should there be any impact, you will be informed and will not be disadvantaged as a result of any teaching content which is not delivered as a result of the industrial action. Any materials missed will not form part of any assessment for the course.

The University will be open as normal during the industrial action. 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.

The industrial action is taking place on the following dates:

• Monday 18 September
• Tuesday 19 September
• Wednesday 20 September
• Thursday 21 September
• Monday 25 September
• Tuesday 26 September
• Wednesday 27 September
• Thursday 28 September
• Friday 29 September

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.

This is a form of industrial action where some staff who are in the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) may not undertake duties relating to marking and assessments during the period of action.

No. The boycott has now ended.

Work not marked due to the boycott is now being marked and your School will be in touch to let you know when you can expect to receive your results.

Course assessments not marked due to the boycott will now be marked and your degree classification will then be reviewed. If the results for the missing assessments have a positive impact on your degree classification, you will be awarded the higher degree class. Your degree will not be adjusted downwards. Once this has been done, you will be sent a revised degree transcript and, where appropriate, a new degree certificate. 

You have not been disadvantaged in terms of progress due to any course results missing due to the boycott. If you have any missing results these have not been taken into account in terms of progress. Marking is currently taking place and your School will notify you when you will receive your results. Should you receive a fail grade, you will need to resit (see below).

The deadline for return of results is Friday 3 November 2023.

Should you receive a fail mark for a course which was impacted by the boycott, you should speak to your School about resit arrangements. You will not be required to pay a resit fee in recognition of the impact of the boycott but you will need to register. 

If you have any queries, please contact mab@abdn.ac.uk