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HEC Briefing: Sullivan Review

By Matilda Fitzmaurice and Bijan Parsia  The authors would like to record their thanks to Jay Todd and Felicity Callard for their invaluable work that made this briefing paper possible. Context The Sullivan Review Into Sex and Gender in Research Data (hereafter the SR) was announced by Michelle Donelan, then

UCU Commons newsletter #27, 23 September 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:

UCU Commons newsletter #26, 9 September 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:

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:

UCU Commons newsletter #24, 12 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:

Friday 26th June HEC Report

The full, unconfirmed minutes of this meeting are available on the UCU website (login required). Therefore, in the interest of focus and brevity this report addresses the following three points:  * HEC adopts comprehensive HE Strategy * HEC accepts recommendations of Secretary of State Dispute Working Group * HEC response to HESC (Higher

UCU Commons newsletter #23, 29 July 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:

UCU Commons newsletter #22, 15 July 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:

TL;DR: The (Good, for Once) TPS News

Note: While I (Bijan Parsia) have served on UCU's Superannuation Working Group and am now (2026-2027) an elected USS alternative negotiator, I am not a pensions expert per se, e.g., I'm neither a professional pensions advisor nor a pensions academic. Nothing here should be

UCU Commons newsletter #21, 1 July 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:

Friday 1st May NEC Report

UCU’s NEC met for the final time in its 2025-2026 incarnation on 1st May 2026. The finalised minutes, which were agreed at the first meeting of the new NEC on 19th June, are now available. Key takeaways * Brutal funding cuts from the Ministry of Justice to the prison

Rule Change to Anti-Casualisation Committee Nomination Process

Jo Edge, co-chair of UCU's Anti-Casualisation Committee (ACC) is bringing the following paper and motion for discussion and decision to the meeting of the committee on 8 July 2026. Explanatory paper This paper provides background and rationale for the motion to amend the nomination process to

UCU Commons newsletter #20, 17 June 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:

Motion on X for June 2026 NEC

By Matt Barnard I have submitted a motion, in consultation with others, to the upcoming NEC on Friday June 19 asking for a report into the usage of X, formerly known as Twitter, by UCU and potential consequences should the union decide to leave the platform. This comes out of

‘We shouldn’t mourn those who are not dead’: A reply to Lorna Finlayson’s ‘Irreversible’

By Matilda Fitzmaurice There is no arguing with many of the facts stated up front in Lorna Finlayson’s ‘Irreversible’, published in the New Left Review’s ‘Sidecar’ on 29th May. Climate change is irreversible. There is a great deal that is now baked in. Warnings about the impending crisis,

UCU Commons newsletter #19, 3 June 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:

UCU Congress 2026 Report

By Lisa Rull Several hundred delegates from branches across the four nations and from higher, further, prison and adult and community education, met in Harrogate last week for UCU’s annual Congress – the peak policy-making body of our union. UCU Commons members were also active over the last week,

Project: JNCHES vs Inflation

We're happy to announce a new UCU Commons Project: JNCHES vs. Inflation. We've extracted pay spine point data going back to 2005 and plotted it in a number of ways against several inflation measures.

Comparing the UCU Congress with the Quakers' Britain Yearly Meeting

By Michael Bartlett UCU and the Quakers are in some ways similar institutions. Both have thousands of members across the UK, both are arranged in an inverted pyramid of local branches supported by regional staff and a national organisation, and both have a few hundred sometimes under-appreciated employees who

UCU Commons newsletter #18, 26 May 2026

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: UCU congress