UCU Commons newsletter #13, 25 March 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 have been doing

We are very happy to report that our motion to change NEC’s standing orders to open up the nomination process to UCU’s equality standing committees was passed by acclaim at the meeting of the Equality Committee on 11 March, chaired by Tilly Fitzmaurice. This will now be debated and hopefully passed at the NEC meeting on 1 May, where it needs a simple majority in order for the standing orders to be amended. Jo Edge, the motion’s author and Women’s Rep (HE) on NEC, says, “UCU Commons members on NEC will do our best to make sure this does not fall off the agenda at the last NEC of this cycle, so that, if passed, it can be implemented in time for autumn’s equality group conferences, when new members to standing committees are elected each year. We hope that all NEC members will vote to approve this uncontroversial request to make the nomination process easier for everyone”. 

News from UCU

Earlier this month, UCU released two important reports on Prison Education reports which were also presented at UK Parliament. One deals with the career experiences of Black prison educators and the other with the mental health and wellbeing of prison educators working in the UK. A short film accompanies the Black prison educators report, and we encourage everyone to learn more about the invaluable work that prison education staff are doing under immense pressure.

UCU also launched ten principles for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in post-16 education this week. These outline how the introduction of AI in our sectors must be subject to consultation and agreement with unions, because of their potential impact on working conditions, academic practice and staff roles. Principle 2 gets to the core of the issue, ‘Human interaction and trust built between educators and students is fundamental to education and central to positive outcomes for students. It must be actively safeguarded in the implementation of AI-driven technologies’. Matt Barnard says, “These ten principles show a clear understanding of the risks posed by AI tool adoption in HE. They call for responsible use of these technologies to enhance and help what we do, rather than deskill and hollow out our roles whilst swiping our data for training. They will be a solid basis for campaigning”.

In our sectors

Last week, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) released ‘Preparing for Populism’, which essentially argues that universities should get ready for what some see as the inevitable Reform government in 2029 by capitulating in advance to populist right-wing agendas. This alarming quote captures the report’s essence, ‘Tone has a vital part to play in this change. During a closed session, it may be tempting to disparage a person or party, such as Nigel Farage or Reform UK, but this is not the same as attacking their policy position. It is a tribal signal. It reinforces the perception that universities are hostile to certain parts of the electorate and to politicians in general. It also risks alienating future political masters. The sector must model respect for political diversity if it expects to earn it in return’. Dave Hitchcock describes this as a "permission structure for cozying up to far right populism", adding that "our sectors currying favour with Reform will not in any way create "nicer sentiments" among the wider population".

In an alarming and divisive move, Sheffield Hallam university management have outlined plans to move all non-REFfable staff to employment via a subsidiary company, removing access to their TPS pensions in the process. We have also seen evidence on social media of similar moves by management at Coventry University, who reportedly plan to transfer all academic staff via TUPE to employment at a subsidiary company. We are alarmed at the speed with which employers are rushing to break the post-92 agreement and worsen the terms and conditions of employment of their staff. Tilly Fitzmaurice, former HE casualised rep who has recently rejoined the anti-casualisation committee, says: “As our casualised members have long insisted, pensions are a precarity issue. In particular, SHU’s move to effectively section research-active staff off from their colleagues completely belies any commitment to parity of esteem between teaching and research and teaching-focused roles”.

Student loans continue to provoke performative outrage from people looking puzzled while wearing giant hotdog suits, most recently, Sir Nick Clegg, who looked characteristically sad while referring to the system as 'a mess'. Rob Clarke says “the ‘mess’ (as Clegg now calls it) that many graduates find themself in is in no small part down to the Liberal Democrats under his leadership embracing marketised models of higher education and increased tuition fees when in their cosy coalition with David Cameron’s Tories. It is perhaps now beyond him to show a little humility or to reflect upon his own culpability, having reneged on his election promises to abolish fees and sold a generation of young people down the river when he got the slightest whiff of power”.

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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