Friday 30-10-2026 - 16:17

When Uncertainty Becomes Part of the Student Experience

For many students at Glasgow Caledonian University, the ongoing dispute around job cuts is no longer just a discussion about budgets, staffing levels or university finances. It has become part of their everyday university experience.

We keep hearing that around 80% of teaching is continuing as normal. But for the students affected by the remaining disruption, that statistic offers little comfort. If you are studying four modules and one of them is disrupted, you are still affected. For you, the impact is 100%. Students in Nursing, Psychology, Journalism, Law, Social Sciences, Social Innovation and many more courses have all raised concerns about missed learning and uncertainty around their studies.

One question keeps coming up in conversations with students, if we are not receiving the teaching we expected, what does that mean for our learning and our future? The University has said that students will not be assessed on content they have missed, but students do not come to university simply to pass assessments. They come to learn, develop professionally and prepare for their careers.

The anxiety is particularly visible among fourth-year students. This should be the point where they are focused on completing their degrees, applying for jobs and planning their next steps. Instead, many are worried about missed teaching, delayed learning opportunities and whether they will be fully prepared to enter their chosen professions. After years of hard work, they deserve certainty, not confusion.

International students are feeling this pressure even more. Many have invested thousands of pounds and moved away from their families to study at GCU. One student recently told me that eight weeks into teaching, she still felt she had not received the educational experience she had expected when she chose to study here. Her frustration was not about grades; it was about feeling that the opportunities she came for were slipping away.

Another highly affected group of students are students on professionally accredited courses.  Nursing students were complaining about missing cancer care lectures and had still not received clear communication about whether the teaching would be delivered later. Psychology students have also raised similar concerns.

Students understand that staff have concerns about their jobs, and many recognise that protecting staff is closely linked to protecting the quality of education. What students want now is simple, meaningful discussions, a realistic compromise and a resolution to the dispute. Students also recognised that unions are willing to engage in discussions, and we believe that the best way to find solutions is to sit down together and address the core issues openly and constructively.

At the heart of this issue are thousands of students who are trying to build their futures. Right now, many do not feel heard, many do not feel reassured and many do not feel confident about what happens next.

Whatever the solution may be, students must not be left waiting any longer.

Hamza Siddiqi
Vice President SSE