We have received notification from the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) that they are calling on their members to take strike action on the following dates in March:
This strike action will take place alongside action short of a strike (ASOS) which has been ongoing since Thursday 12 February. This includes asking members to boycott some events and activities important to students and applicants such as exam boards, open days and offer holder days.
This action is in response to the University’s announcement on taking steps towards a more sustainable future.
We are committed to doing everything we can to make sure that any industrial action affects you as little as possible.
The University will remain open on all campuses to support the delivery of education and research. The library, IT and student support services will be available as normal for you, as will on-campus study and recreational facilities.
The University will continue to work extremely hard to safeguard your learning outcomes and experience during this time.
We are aware of the worry the situation may cause, and will be communicating regularly with you, ensuring you know what support is available, should you need it.
Strike action (sometimes referred to as industrial action) takes place when a group of employees stop working for a period of time due to a dispute with their employer.
Employees may also take action short of a strike, and this may involve a range of actions.
Action short of a strike (ASOS) is a form of industrial action. It has the same legal protection as other forms of industrial action, such as strikes. We will be taking a series of actions to mitigate the impact of this industrial action on you. Not all staff will participate in ASOS.
The University and College Union website (UCU) represents over 120,000 academic and support staff in the UK, primarily in further and higher education. Membership includes lecturers, researchers, trainers, managers, librarians, technicians, and postgraduate staff working in universities, colleges, prisons, and adult education.
No. Not all members of staff are members of the union which is going on strike – the University and College Union (UCU). Even if staff are members of the union, they may choose not to go on strike. Some non-union members may also choose not to cross the picket line and participate in the strike in that way.
We are sorry for any impact you may experience as a consequence of strike action. Please be assured we are taking a number of steps to ensure you are disrupted as little as possible and that you can progress with your studies.
Under UK law, staff do not have to tell us in advance if they are planning to take strike action so it is not possible to be certain how the strike will affect individual modules on strike days.
While we know that the strike will affect some of you more than others, we remain committed to keeping you all updated as far as we can.
Please contact your Department or School if you have any questions or concerns.
Any room changes and last-minute cancellations may be communicated, where possible, via text message to your phone.
Please do check your Essex email and your texts regularly so that we can notify you of any changes as quickly as possible.
If you come to campus and your lecture or class does not take place, you will be able to use the allocated room and the time for individual or group study. We will be working with your Department or School to provide you with as much advice and guidance as possible.
The University is not operating a policy of requiring other members of staff to cover for colleagues who are not delivering lectures as part of the strike action. However, Departments are working to minimise any disruption where they can. There will be some subjects where there will be no disruption to the usual teaching and many students whose learning is not disrupted by the strike action at all.
Departments and Schools are planning where possible to make alternative arrangements to enable you to have access to the education material you need to meet your learning outcomes and succeed in your studies.
Where possible, lecture notes and slides will be made available in the usual way and the room in which your teaching was located will be available for group study during the time your teaching was scheduled.
Reducing the impact of missed classes on learning might include offering alternative sessions, making lecture materials available on Moodle or, after the strike, providing additional support or uploading last year’s lecture on Listen Again, where it is relevant.
Departments and Schools will identify subjects that are not covered during the strike action and ensure fair assessment so that you are not adversely disadvantaged and are only assessed on subjects that are covered and learning outcomes can be met. Arrangements will be different for each module, dependent on the amount and relevance of affected teaching in relation to other teaching or materials available.
Departments and Schools will communicate to you to ensure you are aware of how our commitment on fair assessment will apply in any modules affected.
For all students, including those from overseas, your attendance record will not be affected by the strike. If you come to campus and your class or lecture goes ahead as normal, just tap in and out as you usually would. If your lecture or class does not take place, or you decide not to come in and it does go ahead, you do not need to tap in and your attendance record will not be affected.
If you have any concerns about your academic supervision for dissertations, other coursework or research, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, please contact your Department or School, and they will advise you on the appropriate next steps depending on your circumstances.
If you have deadlines for the submission of coursework that fall on days affected by the strikes, you should submit your coursework as normal.
If, because of the strike action, you feel your academic performance is affected, please do not worry. The Board of Examiners will be made aware of any significant strike impact on particular courses or modules so they are able to take it into account. You can also consider submitting an extenuating circumstances application to enable the Board of Examiners to determine if and how any impact should be taken into account. Information about the extenuating circumstances process is on our website and contains information about the issues you should consider before applying.
No. The University will remain open on all our campuses, the library and other study spaces will continue to be available as usual, and much of our teaching will continue as normal. However, there may be some disruption to teaching and other services for some students.
If you pay for parking by the hour, parking on Colchester Campus will be free on strike days.
If for whatever reason you feel you need additional support, our Student Services Hub are operating in-person, by phone, email and live chat facilities, and can provide information on our range of mental health and emotional support services. Our Students’ Union Advice service is also available for you.
We will continue to update you via your Essex email account and include further information in our student newsletter Essex Spirit and via this page.
We are committed to ensuring that the overall impact of the industrial action on your learning is as minimal as possible and that all intended learning outcomes are met.
Because of the actions we are taking to support students and our commitment to maintaining the delivery of high-quality education and student services and to supporting all our students to complete their courses successfully, we will not be providing automatic additional payments or fee refunds or reductions. We do not believe they would be warranted in the circumstances at this stage. This does not, however, affect legal rights under our student contract. We want to address any problems you may experience so we are asking you to let your Department or School know as soon as possible so we can act immediately.
Although we will not be making automatic payments, strike salary deductions will be directed towards initiatives that benefit our students, such as supporting learning and enhancing your wider experience.
We are offering reimbursement for students who incur unnecessary travel or caring costs on days where all of their teaching does not take place due to industrial action. This applies on 12, 13, 16, 17 18 and 19 February.
We will automatically calculate who is eligible for these payments on the basis of the teaching timetable and using declarations of industrial action by members of University staff.
If you think you are eligible you must apply by submitting an application form (.docx).
You will also need to provide evidence of how much you spent on travel or care costs.
Examples of acceptable evidence include:
For Wivenhoe Park Day Nursery, you should contact the nursery directly regarding any paid for but unused sessions. Eligibility will be assessed on a case by case basis
You must submit your request by 5pm (GMT) on Friday 6 March 2026. Applications submitted after this deadline cannot be considered.
If we decide that you are eligible to receive reimbursement, you will be paid by Friday 1 May 2026.
For enquiries about the payment of costs, you can email strike-reimbursement@essex.ac.uk
The University will remain open on all our campuses. The Library and other study spaces will continue to be available.
If, on strike days, you find your lectures cancelled or other disruptions to your timetable, you can use our Events pages and the SU What’s On pages to find all the events taking place across our campuses, both in person and online.
The University will do everything that it can to ensure that the disruption affects you as little as possible. Updates will be posted on this page so check back often.