How might students be affected by industrial action?

Industrial action is the general term for collective legal actions taken by employees of a company or organisation as a protest.

Strike action is a form of industrial action where some workers who belong to a trade union collectively withdraw their labour. At universities, this may include not doing any work-related activity, such as teaching, marking assessments, attending meetings, sending emails related to work and carrying out administrative tasks as well as not preparing for work scheduled after the staff member returns from being on strike. ​​​​​​

The union will notify the university of strike days at least two weeks in advance. However, individual staff members are not legally required to notify the university of their intention to strike on these defined days.

Action short of a strike (ASOS) is when staff take other action such as limiting some of their work-related activities outside of any strike days. ASOS is determined by the union and can run simultaneously to strike days and continue until the union calls it off.

UCU (the trade union representing academic and some professional services staff) has declared two disputes with universities nationally. One is based on pay and conditions, and the other on the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) which is one of the sector-wide staff pension schemes.

The pay and conditions dispute relates to pay, equality, casualisation and workload. The pensions dispute relates to the rise in cost of funding the USS Pension scheme in order to pay out for the pensions already promised to our staff.

The university is continuing to address issues such as workload, equity and equality and short-term contracts, and influence issues negotiated at a national level – including pay and pensions.

Unison and Unite have also declared disputes in relation to pay. 

We are disappointed by the decision of UCU and Unison to proceed with strike action and Action Short of a Strike, understanding how frustrating this will be for our students and staff who have settled into the academic year and returned to campus after a difficult 18 months.

We are focused on doing everything we can to minimise the impact on teaching and learning, working closely with faculties and departments to provide support and help to ensure that students continue to receive the best possible experience at King’s.  

We continue to strive to find a constructive and collaborative way forward, recognising that certain issues raised (such as those on pensions and pay) are negotiated and decided at a national level, so while we do our best to influence and secure the best outcome for our staff, the final decision is not ours to make.

Following an informative and balanced discussion, student members voted against KCLSU supporting strike action.

Which unions have a mandate for strike action at King's? 

UCU has a mandate for industrial action on pay and conditions, and on the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

Unison has a mandate for industrial action at King's which relates to pay.

UCU’s ASOS is intended to be continuous from Monday 23 May to Friday 7 October 2022. At this time, ASOS consists of UCU members only working their contracted hours and duties and not volunteering to do more, not rescheduling classes and lectures cancelled due to strike action, not covering for absent colleagues, removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action.

It is possible that the unions will announce further strike action days or other forms of action short of strike over the coming months, and we will update you as and when we receive formal notification.

UCU notified us on Friday 20 May 2022 that the marking and assessment boycott that was originally planned to run from Monday 23 May 2022 will not now go ahead. Students should undertake all their assessments as scheduled.

Not all staff will be taking industrial action so the impact will be different depending on the programme you are studying. The university is committed to doing everything possible to support students during this time and, working closely with faculties and KCLSU, will take all available measures to minimise the impact on teaching and learning.

The university will remain open, and we will do everything we can to ensure you continue to have access to the facilities and services on campus including informal study spaces, libraries and computer rooms. We will support you with your studies and independent learning.

Should any changes prove necessary to opening times or service availability, we will communicate directly with you in advance.

Our student advice, wellbeing and welfare services will continue to be available throughout this time.

We don’t expect the industrial action to have any significant effects on research. Please continue with your research, as guided by your supervisor(s).

We expect related training courses and workshops to continue as normal, so you should attend unless you are advised otherwise by the relevant department or training provider.

If you are a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), please see the staff Q&A.

Although the impact of industrial action may be less visible for King’s Online students, you may still experience some disruption on strike days, including cancellation of live teaching events and facilitated webinars, or reduced moderation in discussion forums. 

The approach to cancelled teaching and learning events is the same regardless of whether these sessions are held in person or online. More information on this can be found in the Teaching and learning section.

For some King’s Online students, the impact of industrial action may feel more significant, given the modular nature of your degree programme and its more frequent assessment periods.

There may be very limited exceptional circumstances where you believe that you have been more severely impacted due to your personal circumstances, and it has unduly affected your assessments. More information on this, as well as how to complain, can be found in the Complaints section.

Your Student Success Advisor will remain available throughout the period of industrial action and should continue to be your first point of contact for all matters related to your programme.

Where possible, teaching and learning activities will go ahead, including the supervision of projects and dissertations, and you should attend unless you are advised otherwise from your lecturer or department.

You should also continue to submit assignments to existing deadlines.

There may be instances where sessions have to be cancelled. If they can, your faculty or department will let you know as soon as possible of any change to your timetabled session. However, we are not always in a position to inform you of any changes in advance, as staff members are not legally required to tell the university if they plan to take industrial action.

The university will remain open, and you will continue to have access to the facilities and services on campus including informal study spaces, libraries and computer rooms. We will support you with your studies and independent learning. Our student advice, wellbeing and welfare services will continue to be available to you throughout this time. We are increasing the availability of our advisors, so you will have enhanced access to support.

You should make every effort to attend timetabled sessions. However, if a lecture, tutorial or other planned contact point is cancelled due to industrial action, you should make a note of it.

More information on how to complain can be found in the Complaints section.

If your lecture or class is affected by strike action but still takes place (e.g. it is rescheduled) you are expected to attend unless you have been given prior permission to be absent in line with normal procedure.

Where possible, your faculty or department will let you know in advance if your session is likely to be disrupted. However, staff members are not legally required to tell the university if they intend to take industrial action so it may not be possible to let you know in advance.

Important to know:

• If a staff member does not arrive for the start of a teaching session, you should wait a few minutes to make sure your lecturer is not late before leaving the room.
• If a lecture, tutorial or other planned contact point is cancelled due to industrial action, please make a note of it.

The university will remain open, and you should continue to have access to the facilities and services on campus including informal study spaces, libraries and computer rooms.

We will support you with your studies and independent learning. Our student advice, wellbeing and welfare services will continue to be available throughout this time and we are increasing the availability of our advisors, so you will have enhanced access to support.

If your teaching session has been cancelled, we encourage you to still come to campus. You will be able to work with classmates and benefit from other campus learning facilities.

King’s Edge is a programme of extracurricular initiatives and events available to all students, including internships and volunteering opportunities, languages courses, community organising and much more. It will continue to be available throughout industrial action.

Our Careers & Employability service continue to make available extra career consultant days, so you’ll have even quicker and easier access to professional development support. More information on what they can provide is available on the Careers & Employability website.

You can find out more about our careers offering at King’s and further opportunities available to you on Student News.

Your Student visa conditions are not affected by the industrial action. Unless you are told that a session has been disrupted, you should attend as normal, and the normal processes for attendance monitoring will apply to undisrupted sessions.

If a session is disrupted due to industrial action, this will be recorded by the university as a cancelled session, and this will not have a detrimental impact on your attendance record for the purposes of your Student visa.

If your lecture or class is cancelled, you will be recorded as an ‘authorised absence’. You should make a note of the cancelled lecture or class.  

The university will remain open, and you will continue to have access to the facilities and services on campus including informal study spaces, libraries and computer rooms to enable you to continue your studies and independent learning.

Where possible, teaching will go ahead, but there may be instances where sessions have to be cancelled. The university will ensure that no student’s academic outcomes are disadvantaged by the industrial action.

Student services should be available throughout any strike action period. More information is available on Student Services Online.

Students can also access impartial and confidential academic advice support services through our Student Union advice webpage.​​​​​​

We understand that industrial action can cause additional stress and pressure on top of your studies. You may wish to speak to your department or the following services: 

• Advice & Guidance Team – For advice relating to your studies, including financial and immigration advice
• Faculty Wellbeing & Welfare Advisors – You can book an appointment with our team of advisors to discuss and support your personal wellbeing
• Chaplaincy – Emotional support and practised listeners for students of all faiths and none
• Togetherall – 24-hour confidential online support and wellbeing service
• KCLSU Advice – Impartial academic advice for students with issues affecting their studies

If you are struggling with your mental health, you can register for counselling appointments and access different support options at student mental health support. A range of support is available outside King’s usual working hours (9:00-17:00, Monday to Friday). For more information, including about our out-of-hours counselling service Pro-Counselling, please visit our article on Mental health support during evening, weekends & vacation periods.

Important to know: The services listed above are not able to answer questions about the industrial action.

We are working closely with faculties and departments to provide support and help to ensure that students are not academically disadvantaged and continue to receive the best possible experience at King’s. We are focused on doing everything we can to minimise the impact of industrial action on teaching and learning. The university will remain open, and students will continue to have access to the facilities and services on campus including informal study spaces, libraries and computer rooms.  

Not all programmes will be impacted by industrial action because not all staff will take part and this means any potential impact will be variable and specific. As we are seeking to apply mitigations, the university will not be making any general changes to tuition fees as a consequence of industrial action taking place. 

Where a student feels that their education has been impacted, there is a right to complain through a formal process. Complaints are always considered on their own merits, on a case-by-case basis and outcomes will be specific to individual circumstances. This will include consideration of the ways in which mitigation may have been applied where teaching had not taken place.

The university remains committed to delivering an educational programme for each student during any period of industrial action and it will seek to ensure that students remain able to complete their programmes of study, progress and graduate as anticipated.

There is a specific process and complaint form for raising a complaint in relation to industrial action. Details are available on the Student Complaints webpage, including timeframes for submitting your complaint.

To raise a formal complaint you will need to complete the webform available by following the link above under the section 'Industrial Action: Stage Two - Form Investigation'.

• December 2021 strike action - if your complaint is only in relation to the December 2021 strike action which took place on 1 to 3 December, you would normally be expected to have submitted your complaint by 17 April 2022. Any complaints received after this time will only be accepted at the discretion of the Head of Student Conduct & Appeals (or nominee).
• February, March and April 2022 strike action - if your complaint relates to the strike action which took place in February, March and April 2022, you should submit your complaint no later than 1 July 2022.
• If your complaint relates to strike action that occurred in both December 2021 and the February, March and April strike periods, the latter date applies and your complaint should be submitted no later than 1 July 2022.

Important to know: Faculties and departments are unable to deal with any complaints, and these should be directed through the identified process.​​​​​​​​​​

No, it is not expected that you will need to submit a Mitigating Circumstances Form (MCF) due to strike action as your department will put in place measures to provide mitigation for all students in this situation.

However, there may be very limited exceptional circumstances where you believe that you have been more severely impacted due to your personal circumstances, and it has unduly affected your assessments.

If this is the case, you should contact your department in the first instance to discuss this. Your department may be able to provide more information on what steps have been taken and will let you know if they think that you have exceptional circumstances, where an MCF may be appropriate, in which case they will support you to complete it.

Students should not feel intimidated about crossing any picket line. People on the picket line can ask for permission to explain their dispute to students and staff coming in and out of our buildings but this activity must be carried out peacefully at all times. Our security staff will continue to be available to support students and staff as usual.

If you do feel intimidated in any way or witness any behaviour you find concerning, please contact the security at your campus.

If you feel that you have been the target of harassment or bullying, you can find relevant help at Dignity at King's.

If you have any questions or concerns that are not answered here, please contact us by submitting an enquiry through our online enquiry form.

When asked what your enquiry is about, please select ‘Other’, then ‘All other enquiries’, to help us get your question to the right team.