How can students support the strike?

We realise that in taking strike action, we are in the first instance targeting your classes and your eduction. You have paid for those and you should feel entitled to getting your money’s worth. An overseas student on the MA Linguistics, for example, stands to lose the equivalent of £620 if all classes get cancelled. Whether you support our cause or not, we recommend that you complain to the management of the university about the fact that you are, in this case, not getting your full money’s worth. There are many ways of complaining; a simple one is to send an email to the provost of UCL (Michael Arthur, michael.arthur@ucl.ac.uk) and the vice provost of eduction and student affairs (Anthony Smith a.w.smith@ucl.ac.uk). You can email them individually or as a group. While they may not read every email, they will certainly take note of the volume of emails they receive.

In 2018, some students won the right to a partial refund of their fees because some of their lectures had been canceled as a result of the strike. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_UK_higher_education_strike#Compensation We suspect that threatening and taking similar steps this time around will increase the pressure on the universities to return to the negotiating table and to resolve the strike more quickly (or to avoid it altogether). Some students in Wales have already started a campaign around this issue.

You can also choose not to cross our picket line. We understand that this is not always possible, and we will never prevent you from entering the building, but we really do appreciate your support in choosing not to cross.

We would also appreciate moral support on the picket line - a friendly chat, a thumbs up, or a hot drink are all big morale boosters for picketing staff. 

You should also keep an eye out for communications from the National Union for Students (NUS) and the Students' Union UCL with other ways students can support the strike. The Students' Union has their own information page. You might be interested to know that the NUS and UCU have issued a joint statement, saying that students stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with staff in these disputes.

Finally, we have organised a Strike School, with activities every day of the strike, starting between 12:30 and 1 pm. You can head over to the Strike School page for the latest info. Attending events and chatting with striking staff members is a great (and fun!) way of showing your support.