When university strikes are planned in March 2023 and why uni staff are striking

The University and College Union is striking again in the long-running dispute with institutions over pay and pensions.

The walkout is one of a long list of strikes that have affected everything from rail services and Royal Mail deliveries to NHS nurses, ambulance drivers and teachers in the past year.

Here is everything you need to know about March’s university strike, and which universities will be affected.

When are university staff striking?

University staff will strike again on the following dates in March:

• Wednesday 15 March
• Thursday 16 March
• Friday 17 March
• Monday 20 March
• Tuesday 21 March
• Wednesday 22 March

UCU added the 15 March date this week.

The action includes academics, librarians and other university staff.

The union paused strikes planned for late February and early March after positive discussions about a pay deal. Discussions are continuing, but at present, the remaining planned strikes are to go ahead.

The National Union of Students (NUS) is backing staff taking the strike action, which will affect 2.5 million students.

Universities affected by strike action

• Aberdeen, The University of
• Abertay University
• Aberystwyth University
• Anglia Ruskin University
• Arts University Bournemouth
• Aston University
• Bangor University
• Bath Spa University
• Bath, University of
• Bedfordshire, University of
• Birkbeck, University of London
• Birmingham, The University of
• Bishop Grosseteste University
• Bolton, The University of
• Bournemouth University
• Bradford, University of
• Brighton, University of
• Bristol, University of
• Brunel University
• Buckinghamshire New University
• Cambridge, University of
• Canterbury Christ Church University
• Cardiff Metropolitan University
• Cardiff University
• Central Lancashire, University of
• Chester, University of
• Chichester, University of
• City, University of London
• Courtauld Institute of Art
• Coventry University
• Cranfield University
• Cumbria, University of
• De Montfort University
• Derby, University of
• Dundee, The University of
• Durham University
• East Anglia, University of
• East London, University of
• Edge Hill University
• Edinburgh Napier University
• Edinburgh, University of
• Essex, University of
• Exeter, University of
• Falmouth University
• Glasgow Caledonian University
• Glasgow School of Art
• Glasgow, University of
• Gloucestershire, University of
• Goldsmiths, University of London
• Greenwich, University of
• Harper Adams University
• Heriot-Watt University
• Hertfordshire, University of
• Huddersfield, The University of
• Hull, The University of
• Imperial College London
• Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
• Keele University
• Kent, The University of
• King’s College London
• Kingston University
• Lancaster, University of
• Leeds Arts University
• Leeds Beckett University
• Leeds Trinity University
• Leeds, The University of
• Leicester, University of
• Lincoln, University of
• Liverpool Hope University
• Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA)
• Liverpool John Moores University
• Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
• Liverpool, University of
• London Metropolitan University
• London School of Economics
• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• London South Bank University
• Loughborough University
• Manchester Metropolitan University
• Manchester, The University of
• Middlesex University
• Newcastle University
• Newman University
• Northampton, The University of
• Northumbria University
• Norwich University of the Arts
• Nottingham, The University of
• Open University
• Oxford Brookes University
• Oxford, University of
• Plymouth Marjon University
• Plymouth, University of
• Portsmouth, University of
• Queen Margaret University
• Queen Mary, University of London
• Queen’s University Belfast
• Reading, University of
• Robert Gordon University
• Roehampton University
• Rose Bruford College
• Royal Academy of Music
• Royal Agricultural University
• Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
• Royal College of Art
• Royal College of Music
• Royal Holloway, University of London
• Royal Northern College of Music
• Royal Veterinary College, University of London
• Salford, The University of
• Sams at University of the Highlands and Islands
• Senate House, University of London
• Sheffield Hallam University
• Sheffield, The University of
• Soas, University of London
• Solent University
• South Wales, University of
• Southampton, University of
• St Andrews, University of
• St George’s, University of London
• St Mary’s University College, Belfast
• St Mary’s University, Twickenham
• Staffordshire University
• Stirling, The University of
• Stranmillis University College
• Strathclyde, University of
• Suffolk, University of
• Sunderland, University of
• Surrey, University of
• Sussex, University of
• Swansea University
• Teesside, University of
• Trinity Laban
• University for the Creative Arts
• Ulster University
• University College Birmingham
• University College London
• University of the Arts London
• University of Wales Trinity Saint David
• Warwick, University of
• West London, University of
• West of England, University of the
• West of Scotland, University of the
• Westminster, University of
• Winchester, The University of
• Wolverhampton, University of
• Worcester, University of
• Wrexham Glyndwr University
• Writtle University College
• York, University of
• York St John University

Why are university staff striking?

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), which represents university employers, made the UCU a “full and final pay offer of between 5 per cent and 8 per cent”, which the union has said is insufficient.

In the pension dispute, the UCU is demanding employers revoke the cuts and restore benefits. The union says the package of cuts made last year will mean the average member loses 35 per cent from their guaranteed future retirement income, and for those at the beginning of their careers, the losses would be hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It wants a pay rise that matches inflation, which is sitting above 10 per cent.