UCU Commons newsletter #29, 21 October 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
We are delighted to be hosting a social event at this year’s Equality Groups Conference. This will take place directly after the conference dinner on Thursday 26 November, 9–11pm in the Billiard Room at the Town Wall, Pink Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5HX (a ten minute walk from the conference venue). This is an informal gathering for socialising with other conference attendees, and the first few arrivals can enjoy a free drink on us. All are very welcome. If you have any questions about the event, please do drop us a line.
Several members of UCU Commons attended and took part in UCU’s trans inclusion webinar on 15 October. Tilly Fitzmaurice says, “I was very glad to be involved in the organisation of this brilliant webinar. There is so much important work going on in branches. Creating spaces like these in which branch reps can share experiences and resources in order to learn from each other is vital for ensuring that equality issues are at the heart of organising efforts in our union. The two speakers gave fantastic presentations and webinar participants exchanged practical advice, peer support and community solidarity. I hope we can facilitate many more spaces such as this, so please keep an eye out for any other opportunities to get involved. If you or your branch are new to these issues, the best first step is to read UCU’s detailed and practical guidance for branches on the EHRC Code of Practice”.
News from UCU
The meeting of UCU’s National Executive Committee (NEC) on 19 June 2026 voted for proposals to review UCU Congress’s arrangements, and a survey on proposed changes has now been issued for anyone who has attended Congress. Jo Edge says, “Congress is our most important annual event, where we set policy and priorities for the year ahead. However, year after year we see urgent business falling off the agenda due to challenges that can use up hours of precious time, and the resulting changes to the agenda can make things very difficult for neurodivergent members like myself who need clarity and certainty. I welcome this move to make Congress more efficient and urge as many eligible members as possible to spend 5–10 minutes filling in the survey”.
The Education: It’s Ours campaign has launched the Activist Toolkit for recruiting members, starting conversations and building branch capacity. Vice President Mark Pendleton elaborates in this excellent video circulated on UCU social media. Please head over to the website to download toolkit PDFs.
UCU is hosting a webinar on 'Social class in higher education: building collectivism, power and support', to showcase recent research on the experiences of working-class staff in higher education and to introduce UCU members to the work of the Alliance of Working-Class Academics (AWCA) and its University Code on equal opportunity for working-class academics and students. The webinar takes place on 4 December 2026 (12:00–13:00). Registration and more information at the link. Matt Barnard says, “I’m looking forward to this event, class not only remains but is an increasing barrier to secure employment and success in Higher Education, and it is good to see UCU putting resources into raising awareness and building networks. It gives the lie to the false claims of the far-right that the vicissitudes of social class are institutionally ignored in favour of other characteristics, as though only white men can be working class. EDI is not a zero sum game, and these different challenges are intersectional”.
In our sectors
Australian media has reported on the results of a state inquiry into university finances. Sophia Woodman says, “Following last year’s Senate enquiry into the state of Australian higher education, pushed by the NTEU, regional governments are now looking into finances of universities in their areas. The New South Wales parliament recently concluded that six universities ‘appeared to overstate their financial problems and went too far in restructures and staff cuts’ according to a report by ABC News. There are chilling details about processes that resulted in hundreds of university staff losing their jobs, usually pushed out through ‘voluntary’ measures. (In the UK version of these, you’re told your job is at risk, and offered a bit extra if you leave ‘voluntarily’.) In the case of Macquarie University, one set of modelling for financial savings the university commissioned showed that staff cuts were not the only option. But this was not the one senior management chose, with a note on the model that included the cuts stating, ‘Why not go all the way?’ Unsurprisingly, management consultants were heavily involved in such ‘efficiency’ plans, the NSW parliamentary enquiry found. These firms are wreaking havoc across universities in the Anglosphere. A new research project is looking into the impact of these firms on universities in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Do consider contributing information! There’s lots for UCU to learn from what the NTEU has been doing in Australia, as we reported earlier. Westminster, and parliaments in devolved nations, should be launching such enquiries before it’s too late”.
Erstwhile Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Jo Johnson told Wonkhe that he believes student choice, above all else, to be the ‘main organising principle’ on which the sector should be administered. Lisa Rüll says, “There is much to criticise in Johnson’s reflections of his legacy. The less said about the Office for Students (OfS) the better, and the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) certainly doesn’t work how he thinks. His only acknowledgment of ‘falling short’ lies with the limitations around ‘system innovation’: i.e., more formats for HE qualifications and their providers. But given his desire to focus on the passive ‘what students receive’ and the entirely product-orientated ‘outcomes they achieve’, no wonder he is unable to see the real catastrophes his market-consumer approach has created. Lifting student number controls has been the antithesis of social mobility, with many pre-92 institutions stuffing students into teaching spaces, reliant on excessive staff workloads and precarious contracts to deliver increasingly difficult experiences to students, while seeing course closures and the diminishment of student choice. Meanwhile many post-92s, despite having so much expertise and offering valuable opportunities, struggle for survival just because no-one is willing to see education as an eco-system for regions and the UK as a whole. By his own admission, under the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), ‘funding was carved up sensibly between existing providers’. It boggles the mind that he still believes consumer choice in a market system can operate when no one has any comprehension of the bigger picture”.
Dreadful news from De Montfort University (DMU), who have announced plans to employ professional services staff through a subsidiary company, revise academic structures and introduce a severance scheme. Rob Clarke says, “Chaos reigns again at DMU. Bosses have been obsessed with ‘transnational education’ and chucking money at their new campus in Kazakhstan, but seem to have forgotten about their duty to run a university with, for and in the city of Leicester. They need to give their heads a little wobble, get their priorities straight and stop punishing staff (present or future) for their own failures”.
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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