Staff at the University of Edinburgh are due to go on strike for five weeks of the Autumn 2026 semester.
The proposed industrial action will begin in week two of term, on 28 September.
Nik Matheou, secretary of the University and College Unions Edinburgh branch (UCUE) told The Times that “the senior leadership team is deciding everything with external consultants and really just communicating downwards. We could keep trying other smaller forms of action […] rather than trying to bring this to a head, but we are now at a point where we know compulsory redundancies are on their way.”
A statement by the University to The Times cited “significant financial challenges” including “Geopoligical uncertainty, rising costs and unsustainable funding for Scottish and other UK students.” It continued: “At the University of Edinburgh, we are taking responsible, carefully planned action to secure our long-term stability, remain financially sustainable and emerge stronger for the future.”
This follows a year of turbulence and industrial action from the UCUE, which renewed its mandate for industrial action in April this year, due to an aimed £140 million budget cuts and up to 1,800 job losses.
This led to a marking and assessment boycott which began this spring.
The UCUE previously stated that they felt that the University was “not engaging meaningfully, including barring the union from key meetings and not sharing necessary financial information.”
On the upcoming strikes, Matheou further said that this industrial action would “make a lot of the courses untenable,” and as such, the UCUE hopes that it will provoke a response from University leadership.
The University told The Student it did not receive formal notice from the UCUE regarding its intention to take industrial action.
One fourth year student said: “It feels really stressful to go into my final year of University and not know how much time I will get in front of my teachers.
“When we pay so much to be here, it is really disappointing to see our education treated like it is secondary to the profit made by the University, and whilst I am fully in support of my tutors striking, it is still incredibly frustrating.”
The UCUE and the University have been approached for comment. This story is being updated as it develops.
