Industrial action at Goldsmiths, University of London has continued into the autumn term, raising urgent questions about staff livelihoods, students’ learning and the future of specialist creative education.
Following unsuccessful attempts to find resolution, UCU members took action short of strike and a marking boycott in April this year. Full strike action began on 8 June 2026, making this the longest university strike in UK Higher Education history. Many NSEAD members, including staff and students are being impacted by this ongoing dispute, the latest in what Goldsmiths UCU describe as a 'doom loop' of expensive restructuring and cost cutting measures.
The dispute concerns the university’s restructuring programme, 'Future Goldsmiths'. Management says the programme is necessary to respond to financial pressures, changing student demand and the need to secure the institution’s long-term future. Goldsmiths UCU argues that further staff cuts will undermine the university’s capacity to recover and sustain its educational provision.
Pay deductions have been a central point of contention. Goldsmiths UCU says that management imposed 100% pay deductions on staff participating in the marking and assessment boycott, characterising this as an effective lockout. The branch says the decision prompted its move to indefinite strike action. In a statement published on 8 October, Goldsmiths said that discussions facilitated by ACAS had not produced an agreement.
Goldsmiths' management claims that students’ interests must remain central, saying it is taking steps to minimise disruption and maintain teaching and academic support. Goldsmiths UCU rejects this, and students have expressed deep concern and frustration over the use of last-minute temporary or replacement staff. Many students have joined staff on the picket lines, held solidarity assemblies, and demanded fee refunds. Goldsmiths Students Union have called on management for transparency and ask how the institution can secure its future without losing the expertise on which its educational purpose depends.
NSEAD President Andy Ash said:
The relationship between an institution and its academic staff has implications for teaching, collegiality, morale, and the educational environment experienced by students. Where a university has developed a distinctive contribution to art education over many years, there is a responsibility to consider carefully how that legacy will be maintained. Reputation of any academic institution rests on the quality of its staff, the specificity of its expertise, the richness of its partnerships, and the experiences it makes possible for its students.
NSEAD has spoken out in support of Goldsmiths UCU members and said that the dispute raises questions that extend beyond one institution. Specialist creative education depends on sustained relationships between staff and students, access to workshops and resources, and the continuity of teaching and research communities. Repeated uncertainty risks weakening those foundations. As a combined trade union, subject association, and learned society, supporting the sector since 1888, NSEAD has a long-established commitment to educators’ working conditions and to high-quality art, craft and design education.
NSEAD has shared a solidarity statement calling for urgent negotiations, protection for staff and students, and a transparent, sustainable plan for creative education. Its central message is that financial recovery and educational quality must be pursued together—not at one another’s expense.
NSEAD General Secretary Michele Gregson said:
Goldsmiths College is a very special place for many NSEAD members. I am amongst those who trained there, on the PGCE art and design course. I was surrounded by exceptional educators who set the absolute standard for excellence. Training at an institution so deeply steeped in creativity showed me that arts education isn't a luxury—it is a vital civic necessity. To starve the arts is to unravel our society. The current cuts to creative arts courses across the UK threaten the very fabric of our society, which is why we must fiercely protect and champion pioneering institutions like this one, which continue to lead the creative education landscape against the tide.