The University and College Union (UCU) have paused strike action, agreeing to a "two week period of calm" following a breakthrough in talks.

With seven of the upcoming strike dates now cancelled, Cambridge academics will no longer be walking out in weeks five, six or seven of term. University teaching will continue as normal in this period. Action on the remaining five strike days after this pause is still set to go ahead, though only one of these dates falls inside Lent term. 

UCU negotiators are said to have made "significant progress" in their talks over pensions, pay, zero-hour contracts, work life balance and workloads. As talks are ongoing, the UCU is unable to "spell out exact details". Negations will continue over the coming two weeks.

While the UCU stressed that this is “simply a pause”, the union hope the cancellation of strike dates will lead to more constructive discussion with employers.

Jo Grady, the UCU’s general secretary, said: “We have reached a point in discussions with our employers where we have made significant progress across a range of issues. To allow our ongoing negotiations to continue in a constructive environment we have agreed to pause action...Before going into details off the progress we have made we want to make it absolutely clear that this is simply a pause".