Queen's University Belfast expelled from employers' association

Hundreds of students have been impacted by a marking boycott

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) has been suspended from membership of the umbrella body for university employers.

The Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (UCEA) said it had taken the action because QUB had made a local agreement on pay.

In June, Queen's and the University and College Union (UCU) reached agreement to end a marking boycott by some staff.

More than 750 students at QUB graduated without having their degree results finally confirmed due to the boycott.

The university said an additional full graduation ceremony for them would take place at a later date yet to be confirmed.

The settlement between the university and the UCU at Queen's was the first of its kind across the UK.

The agreement included a cost-of-living supplement equivalent to 2% of pay for all QUB staff except those on the senior salary scheme.

'Extremely serious matter'

Many universities across the UK have also been affected by the union's marking and assessment boycott, which is part of a long-running dispute over pay and workload.

The UCEA conducts pay negotiations with trade unions on behalf of over 140 universities and colleges across the UK.

But in a statement the UCEA said that Queen's had made a local agreement on staff pay "outside of the collective pay arrangements" for 2023-24 to settle the marking boycott.

"The UCEA Board has now had a chance to consider the representations from QUB and has concluded that this an extremely serious matter and that the actions of QUB are incompatible with continued membership of UCEA," it said.

"Accordingly, the board has informed QUB of its decision to terminate their UCEA membership for a period of three years in the first instance."

The industrial action by staff at Queen's University had lasted for months

In a statement in response, Queen's defended its decision to make a local arrangement with the UCU to settle the marking boycott.

"Our focus has always placed our students first," the QUB statement said.

"In the absence of any progress being made nationally regarding the industrial action, the local arrangement between Queen's branch of UCU and the University allowed us to conduct 22 graduation ceremonies for our students.

"It has also enabled us to provide students awaiting their degree classifications with certainty as to when they will be received.

"We remain convinced that this local arrangement was the correct and most appropriate course of action for our university and our students."

BBC News NI understands the university's suspension from the UCEA means it may be able to set its own pay policy for staff and make its own pay offer.

However, that has not yet been confirmed.