Industrial action: guidance for students

Imperial respects and will not seek to undermine people’s rights to take industrial action and to withdraw their labour.  

We will seek to mitigate the impact on your education in terms of teaching, learning and assessment, though there may be some variation in delivery.

Teaching and assessment will be prioritised. Suitable alternative methods to deliver teaching and learning will be explored.  

No, Imperial will remain open as normal.

Departments will use funds from withheld salaries to support activities that benefit education and/or student experience during 2021-22, in consultation with student staff committees.  Departmental spending will be overseen by Imperial’s Education Committee to ensure funds are fully used for student support or experience. 

'Action Short of Strike' (ASOS) will take the form of some or all of:

• working to contract
• not undertaking any voluntary activities

UCU is required to inform Imperial if these are to change.

Lectures and tutorials

We're working hard to mitigate the impact on teaching and assessment activities. Where teaching cannot be delivered as scheduled, it may be rescheduled, delivered by another member of staff, or delivered in a different format.

Exams

We will make every effort to ensure all your assessment activities go ahead and are staffed appropriately. However, your assessment may need to be rescheduled and you will be informed if this is the case. You will not be examined on any content which you have not been taught as a result of strike action. If necessary, assessments will be adjusted to take into account the impact of the strike on teaching.

You should complete and submit your coursework by the deadlines agreed as usual, even if your lecturer is taking part in the strike. In some instances, the potential absence of staff members due to strike action might make coursework impossible to complete by the agreed deadline. If this is the case, please contact your department.

Your work will still be marked and feedback provided using the same standards and to the same rigour as always. However, it's possible that marking and feedback may be delayed. 

The strike action is not a valid reason to apply for mitigating circumstances. If any of your teaching has been affected by the strike action, inform your department and this will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. We understand your concern and want to assure you that we are committed to minimising the impact of any strike action.

If you’re already in touch with your department (via a personal tutor, senior tutor, department office, wellbeing adviser, etc.), please continue to seek their support and advice. In particular, if you believe that the strike action has exacerbated any mitigating circumstances, you should seek advice about submitting additional evidence in support of this through your department, using the standard mitigating circumstances process. This will ensure that the Board of Examiners are fully aware and can act accordingly.

If you’re feeling any impact on your health or wellbeing and you’re not already in contact with your personal tutor, we strongly advise that you do so. Please visit the Student Support Zone webpage for further information.

It is possible that arrangements for the viva or reviews may be rescheduled. You are advised to discuss this with your supervisor if you have any concerns. If your supervisor is not available, there are staff within the department that have an oversight of research degree students. If you do not know who this is for your department, check with your departmental office.

UKVI Student Sponsor guidance confirms that academic activity/teaching cancelled due to industrial action should not be treated as an unauthorised absence and therefore should not affect your visa status.

It is likely that there will be a polite picketing presence at some entrances to our campuses on the strike days. While pickets may ask you not to cross a picket line, they cannot stop you from entering the campuses or require you to engage in discussion with them. Those who wish to cross a picket line are allowed to do so. Pickets should consist of a maximum of six people on any picket line. Picketing at Imperial has always been conducted in a respectful way without any intimidation of staff, students or visitors and we're confident that this will continue.

Imperial’s services and facilities are expected to operate as normal during any period of industrial action. If a member of staff chooses to strike or ASOS, they may tell their department in advance, and this will help us to plan to mitigate any impact on your access to support services.  

In some specific instances, the impact of industrial action may mean that services need to reduce of change their operating hours, rearrange appointments or there may be some variation in delivery. However, such instances are expected to be minimal and every effort will be made to ensure that services are accessible as normal.