The department understands that the vast majority of students will remain unaffected by the industrial action and, in most cases, will receive their full results on time and progress and/or graduate as normal.<\/p>
The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has published research findings which surveyed 49% of higher education (HE) institutions in the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. These institutions provided updated feedback on the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students at their institutions:<\/p>
These research findings can be accessed at: https://www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/23june23/<\/a>.<\/p> On 22 June 2023, I met with Universities UK (UUK), the Russell Group, and UCEA to better understand the impact that this boycott will have on students and the mitigating actions their members are taking to protect students\u2019 interests.<\/p> I have also written to the Russell Group and UUK, encouraging them to continue to do everything within their powers to protect the interests of students during this phase of industrial action. On 27 June 2023, I met with a number of HE representative groups to discuss the marking and assessment boycott, including the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students\u2019 interests.<\/p> HE institutions are working on minimising the disruption to their students in a variety of ways, including reallocating marking to other staff members, and hiring external markers. Many HE institutions can award degrees when they have enough evidence of a student\u2019s prior attainment to do so. Others will be able to assign provisional grades to students to allow them to progress and, once all papers have been marked, degree classifications will either remain as provisionally assigned or be uplifted to reflect the student\u2019s achievements.<\/p> The government believes students should be at the heart of the HE system. This is why we set up the Office for Students (OfS) to regulate the HE sector in England, protect student rights, and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. The OfS has published guidance to students on their rights during industrial action at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-rights-and-welfare/student-guide-to-industrial-action/<\/a>.<\/p> On 12 June 2023, the OfS wrote to institutions affected by the boycott to reiterate its expectations in relation to its conditions of registration. The OfS will continue to monitor this ongoing situation through their normal regulatory mechanisms.<\/p> Students who have complaints about their HE experience should contact their provider in the first instance. Students in England and Wales may also raise a complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, which was set up to provide an alternative to the courts and is free of charge to students. Further information is available at: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/<\/a>.<\/p> We have a world class university sector, with four institutions in the world\u2019s top 10, and the government fully expects the UK to continue to be a major destination of choice for international students.<\/p> We hope all\u202fparties\u202fcan reach an agreement that delivers good value for students,\u202fstaff,\u202fand universities,\u202fso further industrial action can be avoided.\u202f\u202fThe Department will continue to engage with the HE sector over the coming weeks to help better understand the boycott\u2019s impact on students and the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students\u2019 interests.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3985", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Robert Halfon"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Harlow"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Robert Halfon"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-07-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "192806"}
, {"_value" : "192808"}
, {"_value" : "192809"}
, {"_value" : "192810"}
, {"_value" : "192811"}
, {"_value" : "192812"}
, {"_value" : "192813"}
, {"_value" : "192814"}
], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-07-11T12:16:57.717Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2023-07-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Universities: Strikes"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with university Vice-Chancellors on the quality of education provided to university students during periods of strike action.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1428", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Bill Wiggin"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North Herefordshire"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Sir Bill Wiggin"}
], "uin" : "192807"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1010361", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Wales Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1010361/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " In the past 12 months, the office of the Secretary of State for Wales has formally responded to 46 letters from MPs and 2 letters from Peers. A breakdown by month is provided below.<\/p> <\/p> The Secretary of State for Wales also receives copies of letters that do not require responses but this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.<\/p> <\/p>
<\/p><\/td> | Secretary of State responses to MPs<\/strong><\/p><\/td> Secretary of State responses to Peers <\/strong><\/p><\/td> Junior Ministers responses to MPs<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr> December 2017<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 2<\/p><\/td><\/tr> January 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td><\/tr> February 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 4<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td><\/tr> March 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td><\/tr> April 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td><\/tr> May 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td><\/tr> June 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 5<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 2<\/p><\/td><\/tr> July 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 4<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 1<\/p><\/td><\/tr> August 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 5<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td><\/tr> September 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2<\/p><\/td> 1<\/p><\/td> 1<\/p><\/td><\/tr> October 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 7<\/p><\/td> 0<\/p><\/td> 5<\/p><\/td><\/tr> November 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 3<\/p><\/td> 1<\/p><\/td> 1<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4086", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Alun Cairns"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Vale of Glamorgan"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Alun Cairns"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-27T10:37:57.673Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "28"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Wales"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Wales"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Wales Office: Correspondence"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many letters he has received from Members of the House of (a) Commons and (b) Lords in each of the last 12 months.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/534", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Chris Ruane"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Vale of Clwyd"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Chris Ruane"}
], "uin" : "192807"}
], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]}
}
|