The protests were in reaction to the University announcing up to 400 staff were put on notice for 110 planned job cuts due to rising costs.

[9] Students also attended the UCU protest during an open day at the university on 17 June 2023, marching from The Level to Victoria Gardens.

[10] On 25 May 2023 students occupied the office of the Vice-Chancellor and other rooms on the management floor of the Cockroft building,[11][12] announcing via Twitter that they would remain there indefinitely until demands were met.

[6][15] On 26 May students occupying the offices received a letter from solicitors working for the university threatening legal action and filed for a court order to evict them from the building.

[19] On 18 September 2023, students occupied the Pavilion Parade university building, aiming to turn it into a community space.

UCU regional official Michael Moran responded to the occupation by saying "It is incredible to see the overwhelming levels of support"[22] [check quotation syntax] The students occupying the building have accused security staff of assaulting occupiers, however no police reports have been filed.

[26][27][28] After a vote at the union, they shared that they would strike indefinitely from 3 July until demands are met, threatening to disrupt the start of the 2023/24 academic year.

[10] During a second protest organised by the UCU during an open day at the university on 17 June 2023, students gathered at The Level and marched towards Brighton railway station, ending at Victoria Gardens.

[39] The University of Brighton Students' Union (BSU) was criticised for their response to the protests and staff redundancies.

The video contains the union's president saying that academic progression should not be a political football, and that BSU is "distressed" to see students bearing the brunt of the boycotts and strikes between university workers and management.

[40] The university responded to protests citing rising costs due to inflation and the tuition fee freeze as reasons for the planned redundancies.

[19] In a statement released by the University of Brighton Solidarity group on 30 May, the students said they have received homophobic language and other verbal abuse from employees of the university,[45] been flooded with sewage, and had a twelve hour delay in receiving cleaning supplies.

Staff claim the full pay cut is a "scandal" as marking takes up less than 20% off their workload, and they are continuing all other work.