Industrial action on the Open Day

Industrial action is taking place at the University on Friday 20 June. Most activities at the Open Day are still going ahead as planned, but there have been some changes to our programme, and information desks may be busier.

While any industrial action will naturally have an impact on our operations, not all staff will be taking part and we are making every effort to minimise disruption. We strongly hope that further discussions can resolve the dispute and bring industrial action to an end.

Impact on Open Day activities

Programme changes

We are making every effort to reduce any impact on our visitors, however, unfortunately there have been some changes to the programme. 

We've sent emails communicating programme changes and cancelled activities that we are aware of in advance of the event, and have been updating our webpage and online ticket listings regularly. 

Your online ticket will always have the most up to date information about activities you have booked. 

Check the current programme

Printed programme

The print programme we will provide on the day was published on 10 June, so some details will be incorrect.  

Staff and student helpers at our Open Day Helpdesks will assist you on the day if you have any questions about activities that have changed, or if you need help finding your way around.

Information desks

Almost every subject area or School is still able to offer an opportunity to speak with representatives at an information desk. For some subject areas these may be busier than usual due to fewer staff being at work.  

Please be patient with our staff and students, who will be doing their best to speak with as many visitors as they can and may not have other colleagues to assist. There may also be times where an information desk is unstaffed while a subject talk is taking place. 

In some cases, staff from multiple subject areas will be representing their academic School at a single information desk. In this case, representatives may not be able to answer in-depth questions about a particular subject if it is not their areas of expertise. 

However, we are confident that you will still gain valuable insight in to what it might be like to study within the School, and it will be possible to ask specific questions by email following the event. 

Crowds on campus

There will be some peaceful picket lines in various locations, and we are expecting a demonstration to take place at 11am. As the University will be busier than usual, we would suggest leaving plenty of time to get between your planned activities. 

Alternative information

If you were due to attend a talk or information desk that does not take place, please be assured that following the Open Day we will explore how we can provide this information to you in an alternative format.  The Open Day team or your School or subject area of interest will be in touch by email if there are virtual alternatives we are able to offer. 

There are also two further open days scheduled for 4 and 25 October and registration for these events will open at the start of September. We intend to give priority booking to those on our mailing list who were registered for the June Open Day but whose activities were impacted, and the link to sign up for this is included in our emails. 

About the industrial action

This action is due to University and College Union Edinburgh’s (UCUE) dispute over the actions being taken by the University to address sector-wide financial challenges.

We understand the strength of feeling among staff and we respect their right to take industrial action.  

We are working with our joint trade unions on the changes needed to address our financial challenges. Discussions aimed at avoiding industrial action will continue.

Further information for students and their supporters is available on our student webpages.

Further information about the industrial action

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