Goldsmiths MFA Students Request Financial Redress Amid Ongoing Tutor Walkout

Students on the master of fine art programme at Goldsmiths, University of London, are requesting compensation for lost learning after a prolonged industrial dispute disrupted their studies. The group, which includes both domestic and international students, told the university that the current state of the course warrants financial remuneration for the missed teaching hours.

The dispute has affected 10 of the 12 tutors usually assigned to the MFA course. Florence Sweeney, a part-time student, stated that many in the cohort have received virtually no teaching this term. She described the situation as a financial drain and reported that classmates have become distressed, anxious, and depressed due to the lack of progress. Sweeney noted that some students traveled from other continents only to arrive without proper inductions or briefings.

At a student gathering on Friday, one international participant described the start of the term as jarring. The student said they were excited to begin at Goldsmiths but found the experience on arrival to be quite shocking. Induction sessions, which were intended to orient new students, frequently devolved into discussions about the ongoing strike action.

The current walkout by University and College Union members has entered its 21st week with no immediate end in sight. The action began in April as a staff marking boycott over proposed job cuts. Management responded by deducting 100% of pay from participating staff, a move the union characterized as a lockout. Following a formal ballot, UCU members at the south-east London university have been on indefinite strike since early June.

Joe Newman, co-president of the Goldsmiths UCU branch, said the strike is a response to the scale and speed of the cuts management is pursuing. He reported that students were largely supportive of the action and appeared aghast when informed of the reasons for the walkout. The union maintains that the financial pressures on the university are forcing deep structural changes that affect teaching staff.

Goldsmiths has faced financial strain in recent years due to falling applications in core humanities subjects and the erosion of domestic tuition fees. One staff member described the internal climate as involving non-stop rounds of redundancies and restructuring. The university is known for alumni including Steve McQueen, Sarah Lucas, and Damien Hirst, but current financial challenges are impacting operational stability.

The university stated that only a small portion of its staff, approximately 8.5%, are currently on strike, which it argues leaves most students unaffected. Management said it has offered compromises, including a pause on compulsory redundancies, but it will not drop the 100% pay deductions for the marking boycott. A university spokesperson cited the large sums spent to ease the impact on students as the reason for maintaining the deductions. The spokesperson also noted that continued disruption risks harming the university's long-term reputation.

MFA students expressed disappointment over the disruption given the high cost of the two-year programme. Full-time UK students pay nearly £15,000 a year, while international students pay £33,000. John Carver, a part-time second-year student, suspended his studies after a departmental meeting at the start of the term that he described as dismal. While he praised the regular tutors, he noted that replacements brought in did not know the students.

James Evans, an international student from the United States, said visa and funding restrictions required him to remain on the course despite the disruption. Evans reported that he never received marks last year and still lacks feedback on projects from that period. This year, he said there is no structure and barely any communication, leaving students to their own devices.