ACADEMICS will down tools and boycott marking from next week (Thursday, November 6), in a move likely to affect many students across the region.

The action by members of the University and College Union (UCU) will start across 69 UK universities and institutions including Durham and Newcastle on Thursday, November 6, with union leaders saying it will continue until the dispute is resolved.

It means students will not be set coursework or receive formal marks or feedback on work and it could also affect exams.

The row is over planned changes to pensions.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said the proposals were full of holes and simply not acceptable.

Universities UK said it was disappointed the UCU was pursuing a “damaging” course of action that would directly impact on students.

Eighty-seven per cent of UCU members who voted in the recent ballot backed the action. Turnout was 45 per cent.