Members of the University and College Union will not stage strikes at universities in the new year after a ballot on further industrial action failed to meet the legal threshold.
The University and College Union (UCU) said more than two in three (68%) of its members at 140 universities in England, Wales and Scotland who voted, backed more strikes in an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.
Three in four (75%) UCU members who took part in the ballot backed taking other forms of industrial action, the union said.
But university staff will not be able to strike as only 43% voted in the ballot, so it failed to reach the legal threshold of 50% required by law.
The ballot was the fifth national higher education ballot that the union has run in just over a year.
A series of strikes have been staged by the UCU in recent years in two separate disputes over pay and working conditions and pensions.
At the end of September, walkouts over pay and working conditions went ahead for five days at 42 universities, and for at least one day at a further 10.
UCU members also engaged in a marking boycott over the summer which saw students face delays in receiving their marks and final degree results.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “The national ballot results show university staff support taking action over pay and conditions.
