UCU Commons newsletter #25, 26 August 2026

Dear subscriber

Welcome to the UCU Commons newsletter, a curated set of links and information about what's happening in UCU Commons, our union, and our sectors more generally. As always, we welcome any feedback you may have on this or any other matter.

 In today's issue:

What UCU Commons has been doing

Ballots have started to arrive for two casual vacancy spots on UCU’s NEC, in which Commoner Madeleine Moore (Loughborough University) is running for UK-elected rep (HE). In addition to giving Madeleine your number 1 vote, we are recommending that you vote for Tilia Lenz (Bournemouth University) as second preference. We are also recommending a vote for Helen Kelsall (Trafford and Stockport College Group) for Women’s Rep (FE). Voting closes on 17 September. Please do ensure your details are up-to-date in MyUCU so that you receive the papers.

News from UCU

We are very glad that UCU is among a group of eight trade unions vowing to fight the discriminatory and unworkable EHRC guidance on ‘single-sex spaces’. Lisa Rüll, member of UCU’s Women Members’ Standing Committee says, “this sends an especially powerful message across the post-16 education sector that so many of its unions are taking a firm inclusive stand on this issue. The guidance doesn’t guide, and there wasn’t a problem with gendered spaces to start with (only those created by the Supreme Court and EHRC). I am so proud of UCU and its ongoing commitment to defending members’ rights, including those of our trans, non-binary and intersex colleagues. We have already seen how anti-trans activists are incapable of stopping at just one form of prejudice, seeking to diminish the rights of other groups. I long for the day when I do not have to read the primary-school* level understanding of biology promoted by Sex Matters". 

*Apologies to those in primary-schools who often have more nuanced understanding of these issues. The kids are alright!

Members at Exeter UCU discovered on the morning that clearing was due to commence that their employers had shut down recruitment for geography courses at its Cornwall campus while the consultation process on proposed redundancies is still live. Tilly Fitzmaurice, who is an academic geographer in her day job, says: “This was an outrageous decision by the University of Exeter’s management, and shows callous disregard for the hurt and pain to which members there have already endured, as well as the branch’s heroic efforts to present counter-proposals to the cuts. I can only imagine the fury, disappointment and confusion felt by the wonderful team of geographers at the Cornwall campus. It goes without saying that no academic department or discipline should be treated like this, but as an academic geographer myself, I passionately believe in the critical power of the geographical imagination to equip students with knowledge, skills and capacities to think across disciplinary boundaries, confront injustices and shine a light on power and resource asymmetries. In shutting down recruitment for its geography courses taught in one of the most economically marginalised regions of the country, the University of Exeter is worsening worrying patterns of retrenchment of HE provision in the South West”.

Elsewhere, Sussex UCU have secured an overwhelming majority for action in their ballot over threats to cut around 200 jobs; members at Heriot-Watt have voted to take more strike action in their dispute over potential compulsory redundancies; staff and students at the University of Sheffield voted decisively to declare no confidence in their Vice Chancellor and SMT over ongoing restructure and redundancy plans; and Nottingham UCU have announced a two-day strike on 30th September and 1 October to coincide with the meeting of their governing body to decide the future of their ongoing reorganisation.

In our sectors

UCU Commoners were devastated to learn of the death of Professor Jason Arday. We share here the response from UCU, from Arday’s family, and fond memories from his students. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

As a result of a toxic combination of factors, including the Labour government’s clampdown on overseas student visas and spiralling fees, certain HEIs, including Nottingham and Aberdeen, are reportedly offering fee discounts to international students. Sophia Woodman says, “In the context of a significant drop in international student recruitment to UK universities, a bidding war has broken out for the remaining pool. There is a clear case for some controls on  international student numbers each uni can recruit, and fairer fees. No one wins from this boom and bust scenario”.

Closer to home, UK students are also feeling the pinch, with research showing that the government are now contributing just 8% of the cost of a graduate’s education, as opposed to 46% in 2015–16. Tilly Fitzmaurice says “while nobody wants to have student debt, the financial situation facing today’s students is uniquely intolerable. As someone with a Plan 1 student loan who began university just as the Coalition government announced the trebling of tuition fees, I find it utterly shocking that government support for the costs of graduates’ education has plummeted to single figures in the space of a mere decade. This situation is unsustainable and flagrantly unjust, and I hope the now bedded-in Burnham government recognises this”.

We hope you have enjoyed this round up. Want to get involved? Join UCU Commons and work with us towards a more effective union for post-16 education here. 

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