Congress 2025: Business of the education committee

Motions have been allocated to a section of the NEC's report to Congress ( UCU2173 [809kb]). Paragraph headings refer to paragraphs within this report. CBC may have added some new paragraph headings to facilitate the ordering of motions.

Section 1: Business of the education committee

Paragraph 3, Improving education together  

1  Education policy as the foundation of a progressive industrial strategy - National executive committee 

Congress notes Education Committee's vital policy work must underpin and strengthen our industrial strategy 

Congress calls on NEC and Education Committee to: 

1. build on Congress 2024 motion 10 
2. clearly outline evidence-based policy to: 
   1. promote the economic, social and cultural necessity of sustained investment across all post-16 education, whose institutions and employers are community anchors across the UK
   2. combat cuts, mass redundancies, and ideological attacks on disciplines and subject provision.
3. continue annual Cradle to Grave conferences, explore options for additional webinars 
4. tackle 'curriculum review' through a liberatory, democratic, anti-racist, decolonised lens 
5. work to embed climate justice across curricula 
6. continue addressing global challenges, including: 
   1. opposing the far right and its threats to education 
   2. AI and education technologies 
   3. defending academic freedom and professional autonomy 
   4. building  solidarity with educators in conflict zones, including Palestine, Ukraine, and Sudan, supporting the defence and rebuilding of education systems, in partnership with global unions and campaigns. 

CARRIED

2  'Arts and Minds' - defend the arts in post-16 education - Composite: London regional committee, London Metropolitan University (City) 

The UK arts industry employs 2.4 million workers. Arts education is a route for marginalised people to have a voice in society and challenge discriminatory narratives. Funding cuts have lessened working-class access to the arts. GCSE entries to creative subjects have fallen by 42%. It is vital that funding for arts and culture subjects is improved as part of a new funding settlement. 

Congress welcomes the launch of the 'Arts & Minds' Campaign, led by the NEU and supported by multiple unions and activists who are fighting to restore arts education as a core part of the curriculum.  

We must fight for the future of arts education.   

Congress resolves:  

1. to affiliate UCU with the 'Arts & Minds' campaign
2. to develop regional strategies to expand the campaign within UCU
3. to promote the campaign via the UCU website
4. to send UCU representatives to campaign meetings to influence strategic direction.  

CARRIED

3  Foundation Year motion - University of Sheffield 

Congress notes that:  

1. foundation years and Access to HE courses, delivered in higher and further education settings, are necessary pathways for students traditionally excluded from HE
2. fees are a poor funding mechanism, however reducing fees for particular subject areas cannot fail but to lower their perception
3. this move will impact the capacity for students to access HE and impact staff recruitment and retention. Specifically reducing Category D course fees at Foundation Year level further weakens the position of Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences subjects at FE and HE level.

Congress instructs the NEC to:  

1. campaign in recognition of the value of these courses
2. resist course closures, outsourcing, and job losses that may be precipitated by fees cuts
3. campaign for a funding model not reliant on student debt to make these courses solvent
4. include these campaigns within wider campaigns such as the campaign to save our Arts and Humanities.  

CARRIED

Paragraph 4, Education funding reform 

4  Reorienting HE and FE financing for a just transition - University of Exeter 

Congress notes:   

1. financial constraints on the HE and FE sectors, including redundancies and threats to jobs at many institutions
2. the urgent need for a just transition to address the Climate and Ecological Emergency, starting with a plan for its implementation.  

Congress believes:   

1. that a just transition can improve sector finances: reprioritising and lowering capital expenditure; creating more equal, inclusive, healthy and rewarding working conditions; easing workload pressures; and promoting collaborative, purposeful work
2. that this requires changes in the financial models informing decision-making in HE and FE, and co-operation and support from government.  

Congress resolves:  

1. to include just transition as an integral part of major bargaining and campaign initiatives
2. to coordinate action to reorient HE and FE financing towards achieving a just transition
3. to convene working groups to progress this.  

CARRIED

5  Trade Union education funding and supporting TU Education units - College of North East London 

Congress believes:  

1. trade Union education (TU Ed) is pivotal to building and maintaining the movement
2. FE colleges, where vastly experienced lecturers bring high quality, accredited provision, should continue to provide TU Ed
3. the steep decline in the number of TU Ed units is disgraceful; the result of repeated funding cuts compounded by unintended consequences of Adult Education Budget devolution
4. TU Ed access is significantly reduced and sometimes completely unavailable for reps
5. significant changes are needed to protect UCU members' jobs.  

Congress calls on UCU to lobby the TUC, UK Government and devolved authorities to:  

1. restore TU Ed funding, increasing learner rates and re-introducing the Union Learning Fund for enough tutors to be trained and employed
2. make funding available to all representatives of TUC-affiliated unions, regardless of their home postcode.  

Congress calls on UCU to:  

1. co-ordinate regular meetings of TU Ed units to share good practice and discuss issues and solutions.  

REMITTED (not taken)

Paragraph 6, Academic freedom and freedom of speech 

6  Academic freedom and the managerial use of institutional technologies - University of Lincoln   

Conference notes: 

1. technologies can be helpful and even liberatory in educational contexts. However, institutions often implement technologies without union consultation
2. increasingly, institutions use technologies to control staff and gather metrics in ways that can lack transparency, obstruct academic freedom and alter power relations towards management, and away from workers
3. UCU research shows that academic freedom is negatively affected by managerial use of organisational technology.  

Conference believes:  

1. technologies should not be seen as neutral. Their use for managerial purposes is an academic freedom and industrial relations issue that the UCU needs to better anticipate and respond to.  

Conference resolves: 

1. based on the research recommendations see 'Principles for Protecting Academic Freedom in the Digital University' and 'Recommendations for Unions'), to develop CPD materials to upskill UCU branches on how to mitigate employers' use of organisational systems as technologies of power with which to undermine academic freedom.  

REMITTED (not taken)