𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Lecturers at the University of Edinburgh are being balloted on further industrial action, in a row over what a union described as “the biggest cuts ever seen in Scottish higher education”.

The dispute began in February last year when the university announced plans to slash its budget by £140 million, with the University and College Union (UCU) warning this could result in the loss of up to 1,800 jobs.

UCU members walked out for a total of nine days in 2025 over the plans, before achieving a “clear win” in December when management agreed to rule out compulsory redundancies until the end of July 2026.

This saw UCU members narrowly agree to suspend industrial action during the existing industrial action mandate, which lasts until the end of April.

Now the union is balloting members on a fresh mandate, which if it passes would last for 12 rather than six months due to changes in employment law introduced in the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Claire Duncanson, vice-president of the Edinburgh UCU branch, said: “It was a clear win for members to get management to agree to rule out compulsory redundancies until the summer.

“There remains more to do, however, and we need a new mandate for strike action if we’re going to be able to push management further on these clearly unnecessary cuts and job losses that take effect after July.

“As shown in the most recent annual report, the university’s finances are strong and healthy.

“The level of cuts management continue to propose are neither needed nor can they be carried out without substantially damaging education and research along with the student experience and staff working conditions.

“12 months after first announcing huge cuts without an idea how to go about it, and having put staff and students through needless stress and worry, the principal and his senior management team need to resolve this dispute and rule out the use of compulsory redundancies once and for all.”

The union described the scale of cuts proposed as “unprecedented”, and questioned whether they are needed given the university has reserves of more than £3 billion.

The UCU also pointed out that the university’s financial accounts for 2024-25 confirmed it was not in deficit.Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: “A year after announcing the biggest cuts ever seen in Scottish higher education, Edinburgh university management still can’t tell us how many jobs they’re looking to cut.

“The union has pushed management and saved jobs during this dispute but we need a new mandate for strike action to push them further to rule out once and for all the threat of compulsory redundancies.”

University principal Professor Sir Peter Mathieson said: “Trade unions have an important role in times of change. The agreement reached in December demonstrated what constructive engagement can achieve. We continue to honour that agreement in full.

“Students need stability to make the most of their time at university, and protecting teaching and assessment from disruption must be a priority.

“While we respect the right to ballot, further industrial action risks undermining the progress we have made, and we urge union leaders to keep working with us to secure a sustainable future.

“Standing still is not an option – it would leave the university in a much more precarious financial position.

“We are making the difficult but responsible decisions necessary to cut costs across all areas, increase income and protect our global standing, with an ongoing commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies whenever possible.”