Strike action by university lecturers which is due to start this week will be extended to disrupt summer examinations and graduation ceremonies if there is no resolution to a dispute over pensions.



More than 1 million students in 65 universities across the UK will be affected by industrial action by members of the University and College Union (UCU), which begins on Thursday with 14 days of strikes spread over four weeks.

If employers refuse to return to the negotiating table with an improved offer, the UCU has warned that its mandate for strike action is valid for six months and it may decide to target exams, admissions and graduations in order to press its members’ case.

The scale of the strike action is unprecedented on British campuses, but such is the strength of feeling among members that the UCU says it has had to deploy extra staff to deal with a 5,000-strong surge in members since the strike ballot in October.



The UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “We are keeping the channels of communication open. There is no sign they intend to shift. There will be significant strike action from Thursday. It will be ongoing until we find a resolution.”

According to the UCU, undergraduates will be the hardest hit by the strike action, losing an estimated 575,000 teaching hours which will not be rescheduled. Institutions affected include some of the UK’s most prestigious universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Imperial College London, Warwick and York.

Lecturers are striking because they oppose proposed changes to their pensions which they say will leave a typical lecturer almost £10,000 worse off each year in retirement – or about £200,000 in total.

Universities UK (UUK), which represents university employers, has proposed that in order to overcome a £6.1bn deficit in the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the fund should switch from a defined-benefit scheme that gives a guaranteed retirement income to a riskier defined-contribution plan, where pension income is subject to stock market movements.

A UUK spokesperson said the proposed pension changes were a necessary step, made in the best interests of university staff, to put the USS on a sustainable footing for the long term.

“UUK met with UCU over 35 times during the last year in an attempt to find a joint solution to address this deficit and the significant rise in future pension costs. Unfortunately, the only proposal put forward by UCU would have led to unaffordable contributions for employees and employers.”

Hunt said she did not want to have to go down the path of targeting exams – the most sensitive time in the academic year – and added that she was devastated that the action would severely affect students, some of whom are planning to sue their universities for compensation.



“They don’t deserve to be put in this position. I’m very upset for them, and I’m very sorry, but we don’t believe we have any choice any longer,” she said.