National talks are ongoing, and we hope a resolution will be found soon, but we have been informed that should the dispute continued EIS plan further strike action on:
Tuesday 11/06/24
Wednesday 12/06/24
Thursday 13/06/24
Friday 14/06/24
Monday 17/06/24
Wednesday 19/06/24
Thursday 20/06/24
Friday 21/06/24
Additional strike action, which falls outside our term time, is scheduled on:
Monday 24/06/24
Tuesday 25/06/24
Wednesday 27/06/24
Thursday 28/06/24
In addition to strikes, some lecturers are also undertaking Action Short of Strike (ASOS) - working only contracted hours and withholding student results from college systems, stopping the result being forwarded to the awarding body.
What does this mean for me?
We want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to minimise the impact of the industrial action on your studies and know that many of you will be concerned about how this may affect you.
Supporting our students’ wellbeing is of upmost importance to us. Please remember that the Wellbeing Service remains available until you leave the college.
While the dispute continues, the College will continue to keep universities and employers informed of the situation and work with them to help you progress.
Whenever the dispute is resolved, we will let you know your results at the earliest opportunity.
Missed Classes
We know that many of you will be concerned about how this may affect you and depending on your timetabled days, you may miss a significant number of classes before the summer. We encourage you to attend College for any classes on days when there are not strikes, or when your lecturer lets you know that they are going to be taking the class (not all lecturers will be on strike). Try your best to keep up to date with course work and assessment where you can.
Once the National dispute is resolved and if it is feasible to do so, we will look to reschedule assessments and any critical learning time for you. If you are progressing on in the college to a further course, this learning and assessment may be within that course or could be offered before it starts, if the dispute is resolved.
Delayed results
If you are a student in Session 2023-24, the ongoing national dispute may mean that your results are delayed in getting to the relevant awarding body.
You should know whether you have completed your course and passed your assessments. All lecturers must inform you of your results and you should ensure that your lecturer has told you whether you have achieved or not. Your assessments or course work should have been marked and the results ready to be entered as soon as this industrial dispute ends.
For those undertaking SQA Highers or National 5 awards, the scheduled certification date is Tuesday 6 August and, as these qualifications are externally marked, these certificates should arrive as normal.
Unmarked Course Work
Due to strike action in the last few weeks of term, unfortunately some student course work may not have been marked. You should have been told when to expect your work to be marked, but if not, then it will now be after the summer holiday. When lecturers return on 12 August, they will complete any outstanding marking and will then be able to tell you your results. If the National Dispute Action relating to the resulting boycott is not in place at that time, results will also be entered into college systems and submitted to awarding bodies.
Employment
If you are going on to employment and your lecturer has informed you that you have achieved your results, your employer can contact the College and we will provide them with the relevant information at the earliest opportunity. We can also explain the current national dispute context to any employers and why some results may not be fully available at this time.
Progression
West College Scotland will enable students to progress in the college and we want to support you to continue to study with us. Should the dispute continue, we will recognise where your learning has been disrupted by the industrial action and if this is the case, the college will honour all conditional offers made to students progressing internally to further study at with us.
If you have a place at another College, they will be aware of the national dispute and are likely to also make allowances for your disrupted learning or assessment. Some universities (GCU, UWS and University of Glasgow) have already indicated that they will accept college applicants with conditional offers wherever possible. If you have a university place conditional on achieving your current course, you should have received a communication from the university. If you haven’t heard anything from them, you should contact the university admissions to see if arrangements will be in place for you.
It is in your best interests to complete your current college qualification. You will be required to complete any outstanding work when in university or before starting the university term in the autumn. Where it is possible to do so, we will be providing opportunities for you to do this after the summer.
Graduation
The College will be extending a Graduation invitation in good faith to all eligible students in July, assuming you’ve successfully completed your course. If we receive confirmation after the national dispute is resolved, that you have not yet achieved your award, you will unfortunately not be able to attend graduation. If you are returning in August 2024 to complete your HN, you will be invited to attend Graduation in 2025. The Graduation Team will work with teaching staff to make sure that you are notified accordingly.