The Friday email: 17 April 2026

News from universities across the UK

Ulster University: Ulster is set to make up to 450 staff redundant. Staff were informed of the potential job cuts on Wednesday and were told that the university needed to make savings of about £25m. Click here for coverage on BBC News and UCU's statement.

London Metropolitan University: the dispute over job cuts and redundancies continues at London Met. Strike action will resume on 21-23, 27-29 April.

University of Aberdeen: Aberdeen UCU members began the first of ten days strike action on Monday 13 April in a dispute over job cuts and the threat of compulsory redundancies.

London South Bank University (LSBU): LSBU management has launched a serious and unprecedented attack on staff. Shortly before Easter, LSBU notified UCU about proposals to put all academics at risk of redundancy; replace their contracts with vastly inferior terms and conditions in a three-tier system; limit access to Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) and largely de-recognise UCU (including from national pay negotiations). In a consultation LSBU UCU members have overwhelmingly voted that they will be prepared to take industrial action. As the university is refusing to halt its plans, the branch is considering to move to a statutory ballot.

University of Leicester: Following sustained action short of a strike (ASOS), 28 strike days in the first semester and a successful re-ballot in February 2026, members at Leicester will recommence ASOS on 27 April and will be taking strike action on 5, 11 and 18 May to stop cuts associated with the merger of Chemistry with Geography, Geology and the Environment, as well as cuts and downgrading of professional services in College Operations and Technical and Research Infrastructure Support. An announcement of further cuts in other areas of professional services are anticipated over the summer, while all academic schools have been tasked with preparing a plan to increase their 'contribution rate'. Details of how to donate to the Leicester fighting fund can be found here.

Goldsmiths, University of London: Goldsmiths UCU members have overwhelmingly voted for industrial action in a fight to protect jobs. On a turnout of 63%, 92% of UCU members who voted backed taking industrial action, including a potential marking and assessment boycott. Click here for the full story.

University of Sheffield: this week UCU announced the formal censure of University of Sheffield. UCU's move comes in response to Sheffield management's unnecessary and damaging series of restructures, their cynical punishment of striking staff, and a refusal to meaningfully negotiate with union representatives. Click here for the full story.

University of Essex: UCU and UNISON members at University of Essex declare no confidence in axe-wielding vice-chancellor. The two unions are calling for Essex's vice-chancellor to apologise and resign and for a new leadership team to scrap the redundancy process and reopen the consultation, following best practice guidelines. UCU and UNISON are also demanding the university to halt the closure of the Southend campus and fully disclose the financial decisions behind the shutdown to Southend Council and investors. Southend MPs Bayo Alaba and David Burton-Sampson joined unions reps in Westminster to present the results of the vote to education minister Jacqui Smith.

England further education pay claim 2026-27

UCU has reached agreement with sister trade unions (GMB, NEU, Unite and Unison) on this year's joint England FE trade unions' pay claim (2026/27) and it has been submitted to the employers' representative Association of Colleges (AoC). You can read the full pay claim here. 

The claim is built on the core demands in the New Deal for FE campaign.

• FE pay parity with schoolteachers' pay
• national workload agreements
• sector-level fully funded and binding national bargaining.

Talks will take place in June and July 2026. Please look out for updates as the talks progress.

Earth Day: climate learning resources

Celebrated this year on Wednesday 22 April, Earth Day has been held since 1970 and is supported by labour movements. In the UK, UCU hosts a collection of free or open-access climate and ecological learning materials. These are normally updated for Climate Learning Week and the United Nations COP timetable, but are available throughout the year. For more on Earth Day and the 2026 Year of Trade Union Climate Action, you can visit the Campaign Against Climate Change website, to which UCU is affiliated.

Separately, Education International, the international trade union federation, is launching 'Educators at the heart of greening education: a climate resilience toolkit for policymakers' on Tuesday 28 April (13:00-14:00) and you can sign up here for their online event.

Arts and Minds Coalition open letter

UCU is a member of the Arts and Minds Coalition which is calling for creative subjects to be reinstated as a crucial part of the curriculum.

Please take a moment to sign our open letter to Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education and Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to maintain momentum on policy asks and support sector mobilisation.

TUC survey on Personal Independence Payments

As part of the UK government's Timms Review of Personal Independence Payments (PIP), the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have opened a survey to hear of people's experiences with PIP in relation to work. Please complete their short survey which will be kept open until 5 May.

UCU survey of members' experience of racism

UCU is committed to putting equality at the heart of everything we do. We have a proud history of challenging racism across further and higher education, and of reflecting critically on our own structures and practices to ensure that our anti-racist work is meaningful, effective and accountable.

Working alongside the national executive committee (NEC) and the Black members' standing committee (BMSC), UCU have developed a survey to better understand members' experiences of UCU and of their working lives. You can complete the survey here. The survey will close on Thursday 30 April at 17:00. All responses will be confidential, and participation is entirely voluntary.

UCU's free membership levels

If you become unemployed, but are looking for another post within the post-16 education sector, you can keep your UCU membership open at no charge by transferring to 'attached unemployed' membership. This form of membership is free for up to one year, or until you obtain a new post, whichever is sooner. Click here for further details on the 'attached unemployed' membership.

Moreover, as part of UCU's drive to support education workers at the start of their careers, we also offer free membership for up to one year to some further and higher education staff. Click here for more details on the 'standard free' membership.