A student at the University of Edinburgh attended her own graduation in protest after her peers were left with "empty degrees" due to a marking and assessment boycott from staff.
Thousands of students graduated from the university this year without marks, as staff campaign for better pay and pensions. Maggie Ashmole, who was part of the History, Classics and Archaeology graduate group, said the universities handling of the issue has been "appalling".
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Maggie said: "There's been a lot of graduations over the past week and almost all of them had had a little bit of a protest at them.
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"The main issue is the University and College Union dispute is still ongoing, which led to the marking and assessment boycott. Thousands of students are graduating with unclassified degrees this year.
"The general feeling amongst students is that the universities handling of the boycott has been appalling."
Maggie's graduation ceremony, which happened on Monday, saw many students wear pink University and College Union sashes in support as they collected their degrees. She continued: "There were people who maybe didn't want to fully protest, but show support.
"So they wore the pink sash for the striking staff, but then there was a smaller group who were more militant with it. Some of us refused to participate in the ceremony, or do the tapping on the head.
"Others raised banners when on stage. We're basically asking the university to pay their staff."
During the graduation ceremony, Maggie claims many were handed "empty degrees" - with tubes containing no piece of paper. She branded this a "complete charade".
Maggie added: "Most of the students don't have a classification because of the marking boycott.
"So that's frustrating. On top of that, Sir Peter Mathieson was attending graduation ceremonies at the beginning of last week but doesn't seem to be coming anymore.
"I think he was made to feel uncomfortable, people had banners that were demanding him to resign."
Responding, a University of Edinburgh spokesperson told Edinburgh Live: "Graduation day marks the culmination of years of hard work, in difficult circumstances for this particular cohort.
"We are acutely aware that delays associated with the boycott are a major source of anxiety for our students, and we are deeply sorry about the continued uncertainty they face over their futures. We welcome the confirmation of exploratory talks between the Universities and Colleges Employers Association and joint union representatives, due to take place this coming Friday (14 July), aimed at bringing an end to the marking and assessment boycott.
"We understand the strength of feeling on these issues of national dispute and we support the right of our students to demonstrate lawfully and peacefully.”
