Strike action information for students

General information

What is the dispute about and what has the University done to try to avoid industrial action?

The University and College Union (UCU) Sheffield branch is taking industrial action over the risk of compulsory redundancies at the University.

The University has met with UCU branch negotiators on over ten occasions since September 2025 to try to find a resolution to their disputes. The University has made numerous offers with a view to ending the industrial action called by UCU before Christmas 2025. UCU either declined to put these offers to their members, or were not accepted by their members.

Unfortunately, UCU members did not accept these offers.

The five offers we made to UCU are as follows:

Offer 1: 9 October 2025, including a commitment to no compulsory redundancies until April 2026

Offer 2: 12 November 2025, including a commitment to no compulsory redundancies until July 2026

Offer 3: 12 November 2025 (following negotiation of offer 2), including a commitment to no compulsory redundancies until October 2026

Offer 4: 20 November 2025, including a commitment to no compulsory redundancies until October 2026 and no restructures before April 2026

Offer 5: 8 January 2026, including a commitment to no compulsory redundancies before 30 March 2026, and a pause to current and future restructures also until 30 March 2026

Whilst we were not able to come to an agreement with UCU, we remain committed to working with them to build a sustainable future for the University. 

Why is the University making changes at this time?

Higher education is experiencing a period of significant uncertainty and change. Like many universities, we must ensure that we remain financially sustainable and aligned with future needs, while continuing to safeguard our world-class teaching and research. 

We are making changes to some areas of the University, including structures, staffing, and academic programmes. Alongside this, we are managing our finances responsibly by pausing some capital projects, selling assets and properties to consolidate our estate, and reducing discretionary spending. All of these actions are being taken in a sustainable, responsible, and transparent way.

Maintaining an excellent education and student experience is our absolute priority. All changes are designed to protect and strengthen teaching, learning, and research, both now and in the future. Students’ academic programmes remain at the heart of the University experience.

Is there a risk of compulsory redundancies at the University? 

To address continuing sector-wide challenges we have a programme of mitigating actions across the University to reduce costs, and our goal is to move back into an underlying breakeven position by 2028–29. 

Over the financial year 2024 to 2025, we made near equal savings across staff and non-staff costs, with no compulsory redundancies as a result of staff cost reduction measures. We continued to avoid compulsory redundancies into early 2026. 

As of April 2026, there are a small number of colleagues who have left the University through compulsory redundancy following the review of IT Services. 

As we seek to achieve a breakeven position by 2028–29, where we do need to make staff saving, our focus will always be on using voluntary means to deliver these savings wherever possible. Where compulsory redundancies are deemed absolutely necessary, it will be as a last resort. 

Whilst we cannot make an open ended guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, we do have a good track record of making savings through voluntary means. For example, there were no compulsory redundancies from the implementation of the Professional Services Framework in academic schools in 2025, which involved almost 800 colleagues. (The framework sets out the roles and responsibilities of the core professional services teams needed in each academic school.)

We understand that any amount of change can be challenging. As the external financial environment continues to challenge us, we have a responsibility to make changes to ensure we operate in a financially balanced and stable way. We are determined to ensure we make thoughtful decisions for our future, so that we can emerge from this challenging period as a successful and sustainable institution.

Replacing lost teaching

Will missed teaching be replaced?

Where industrial action may affect your learning, your school will provide details of arrangements they are putting in place to ensure that wherever possible, lost learning is replaced or made up on a like-for-like basis in line with our regulatory obligations to the Office for Students. 

If you are offered classes outside of your normal timetable, these will only be scheduled to take place during normal timetable hours (Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm) and during the 15 weeks of the semester period set aside for teaching and assessment. Please check your University email account regularly during this period of industrial action.

Why is the University replacing missed teaching?

It is important that you have the opportunity to receive the teaching, and achieve the learning outcomes you were promised when you accepted an offer to study your chosen programme.

This is also clarified by the Office for Students (OfS) in their six expectations of institutions during industrial action. These include that we “Prioritise the delivery of education when implementing contingency plans – in the first place, avoiding any impact on students; where this cannot be done, mitigating the impact on students through delivery of education with as few changes as possible; where this cannot be done, timely repeat performance of any missed or significantly disrupted teaching, assessment, or other promised aspects of students’ experience.”

What happens if I choose not to attend my scheduled learning sessions during a period of industrial action?

If you choose not to attend a class that goes ahead during industrial action, this will be classed as an unauthorised absence.

As per the Attendance and Engagement Policy for Students, you are required to:

● attend punctually and regularly at lectures and classes;

● complete all written assignments, practical or other coursework;

● keep appointments to meet with the student’s supervisor; and

● attend all examinations, as appropriate in each case to the relevant programme of study or research.

Examinations and assessments

Will I be examined on content I have missed due to strike action?

You will not be assessed on topics before the relevant material has been covered.  

Similarly, whilst schools will ensure that as much learning as possible is recovered before formal examinations, they will be mindful of the time and opportunities you have had to assimilate, learn and practice topics ahead of the examination period. This will also be taken into account when scheduling, preparing and reviewing examination papers.

For other types of assessments, for example course work, group work and presentation, schools are again being asked to ensure that you are not assessed on content that has not been covered and to review assessment deadlines.   

If you chose not to attend a class that went ahead during the strikes, this will have been classed as an unauthorised absence. You can therefore reasonably expect to be assessed on the material covered.

Will the strike action be taken into account when marking our assessment, or do I need to submit an Extenuating Circumstances (EC) form?

Your assessments will be marked as normal, but the relevant examination board, ie. the staff in your school who review results alongside an external examiner, will be fully aware of any impacts of strike action on relevant modules and will make sure that you are not disadvantaged. You do not need to submit an EC unless you have reason to believe that the strike affected you disproportionately to your peers.

If I chose not to attend classes that did go ahead during strikes, in solidarity with striking staff, will I still be assessed on these topics?

Yes. If it was your choice not to attend a class that went ahead this constitutes an unauthorised absence and the onus is on you to recover any missed learning. Your decision not to attend class will not count as a valid extenuating circumstance in terms of any impact on your performance.

Late teaching means I won’t have time to revise for exams?

Your school will understand that cancelled classes may mean there is less time between being taught and the assessment period. They will consider the timing of hand in dates and also the dates for formal examinations to give you as much time as possible to prepare. They will also make sure that assessments are appropriate given any missed teaching. The fact that you may have had less time to prepare for examinations will be taken into account by the relevant examination board, ie. the staff in your school who review results alongside an external examiner, to make sure that the marking is fair.

Will the University make assessments easier to account for lost teaching?

No, the University will not lower standards expected from you as you progress through your programmes. This is important in terms of your learning and also in maintaining the standards that are applied to all degrees delivered by the University. 

We will take steps to ensure that you are not disadvantaged by cancelled classes. This includes rescheduling teaching, providing missed content through appropriate alternative means, offering support and revision classes, ensuring you are not assessed on topics that have not been covered, and taking into account the wider impact of industrial action on your learning and overall experience. 

How do I access support for the exam period?

As assessments approach, the University has a wide range of exam support available, from revision resources to wellbeing guidance and information on what to expect on exam day.

Please also see our exam timetable information.

You can find lots of resources to help you plan your revision, revise effectively, and prepare for different exam types on the assessment and exam skills hub.

You can also join workshops to help you prepare for your exams, including sessions this week and next on revision planning, how to prepare for essay-based exams, using Generative AI for revision, developing an academic argument, an overview of academic writing, and how to write a literature review. Book onto a study skills workshop.

What is a marking and assessment boycott? Will this take place at the University of Sheffield

A marking and assessment boycott is a form of industrial action in which staff refuse to carry out assessment related work such as marking exams and coursework.

We have not received notification of a marking and assessment boycott taking place at the University.

If a boycott does take place, we will take steps to ensure that, wherever possible, assessments, marking and graduation can proceed as planned. Our aim is always for all work to be assessed within the normal turnaround period, however, some assessments may be delayed. If, for any reason, your feedback or results are delayed, your school will contact you with further details. 

Complaints and compensation

Can I complain about the approach my school has taken to replace lost learning / claim compensation for lost learning?

The University's first priority is to replace any learning you lose as a consequence of industrial action. This is important because we have a contract with you to deliver the programme you registered for and to support your learning.

The Office for Students (OfS), who regulate higher education, are clear that that compensation is not “a substitute for the holistic experience of intellectual, professional and personal development that a student should expect from their higher education” and that we should deliver the education you reasonably expect, whilst noting the protections afforded you under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

If you feel that replacement learning has not fully mitigated the impacts of the industrial action on you personally, you can make a complaint via the University's formal complaints process, under which you are entitled to seek redress, including compensation, with compensation taking the form of “a financial refund, price reduction or repeat provision of service.” Compensation can be made in response to both individual and group complaints. It is normal for compensation to be paid in full and final settlement following a complaint, with students having the alternative not to accept the offer and to progress a complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) on receipt of a Completion of Procedures letter.

Please see the University’s Compensation and Refunds Policy.

Compensation for lost learning will not normally be considered until it is clear what learning you have lost, what arrangements your school has put in place to replace this and how effective these mitigations have been. 

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) provides some helpful advice for students wanting to complain. This is relevant to all students across the UK.

Can I be reimbursed for out of pocket expenses due to lost teaching?

Any rescheduling of teaching or assessment will happen during the normal teaching and assessment week, normally the 15 weeks of teaching and assessment in each semester. These are the weeks you would normally be expected to be on campus.

However, if you have incurred travel or childcare costs to attend a lecture or meeting on campus and on arrival found that it had been cancelled with no notice because of industrial action, you can apply to be reimbursed. To be eligible, you’ll need to have had no other reason to attend campus, for example other classes that were not cancelled, and will need to provide evidence to confirm your costs, for example, travel tickets.

Please complete the reimbursement form to make a claim.

Mental health and wellbeing support

Where can I find mental health and wellbeing support?

If you’re feeling down, overwhelmed or if the strike action has significantly affected your mental health, our Student Mental Health, Counselling, Therapies & Wellbeing Service can offer tailored one-to-one support to help you make sense of what you’re experiencing