Tens of thousands of university students are being left in limbo without their final degree results this summer, including some who could attend graduation ceremonies only to be told later that they have failed.
About a third of the UK’s 500,000 final-year undergraduates are thought to have been affected by the marking and assessment boycott at 145 universities, part of the pay dispute between the University and College Union (UCU) and employers that has strained relations between staff, students and management.
For many, the delay in confirming their degrees is the latest in a string of disruptions they have suffered since 2020, when A-level and BTec exams were cancelled and replaced with a botched algorithm during the pandemic, and lockdowns and Covid prevention measures marred their time on campus and restricted them to online learning in their first years.
With UCU members declining to mark final exams, dissertations and coursework since April, most universities are issuing provisional results or certificates to allow students to graduate on time. Students have been told that their class of degree will be issued only when the assessments are completed in several months.
The University of Cambridge is among the worst-affected and has told students they will not be able to graduate until their final exams have been marked.
Dr Anthony Freeling, Cambridge’s interim vice-chancellor, said in a memo to colleagues that half of the university’s final-year undergraduates and up to 90% of postgraduate students on taught courses were affected, and warned: “Students could still be waiting for degrees well into the next academic year.”
The University of Edinburgh this week told 2,000 affected students they could take part in the graduation ceremony and receive a degree scroll on stage, but added: “In a very small number of cases, students with delayed degree awards who have attended a graduation celebration may be found to not be eligible for an award once marks are returned after the boycott is over.
“In these rare cases, we will contact the student with details of opportunities to repeat a year or resit the relevant exams and assessments.”
A spokesperson for Edinburgh said: “Graduations are continuing as planned. All students who have been awarded their degree, final or provisional, or who are awaiting a final decision on their degree outcome, will be able to participate in a ceremony.”
The University of Manchester has told staff to award provisional grades for modules where some work has been marked, and will give degree classifications to undergraduates with marks in at least two-thirds of their final-year modules.
Academics at Manchester have criticised the provisional grades as potentially unfair. One told the Guardian: “Some students who did have their work rigorously marked during the boycott – because the modules they took happened to be marked – will be disadvantaged compared to peers whose classifications were based on provisional marks.”
The University of Manchester said it did not know yet how many students would be affected.
“We have put in place measures to allow as many students as possible to receive a classified degree and graduate on time. When all final marks are submitted, we will not lower an awarded degree classification unless there are specific circumstances, such as academic malpractice; however, we would consider a raised classification if appropriate,” a spokesperson said.
Many of the students who contacted the Guardian supported the industrial action by UCU members, with most blaming university leaders for failing to resolve the dispute.
However, the underlying dispute shows no sign of being settled during the current academic year, with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) claiming that the marking and assessment boycott had had only a “limited” impact and refusing to reopen talks on the 2023-24 pay round.
Raj Jethwa, UCEA’s chief executive, said: “Feedback confirming the limited impact of UCU’s marking and assessment boycott across the sector is little comfort to the students bearing the repercussions, nor for the HE institutions and the staff who are working tirelessly to try to help these students.”
Some university leaders, including at Cambridge and Exeter, are calling for reopened negotiations with UCU, but other universities have applied punitive measures, deducting up to 100% of wages for those taking part in the boycott, with others hiring non-union staff to do the marking.
Jo Grady, UCU’s general secretary, said: “We are seeing the national degree scandal grow worse and worse, with universities now admitting that thousands of students aren’t graduating. Further disruption is avoidable and our members have made clear that they just need a fair pay settlement to call the boycott off.
“A number of employers have joined us in calling on UCEA to restart pay negotiations. Unfortunately, the employer body is refusing to listen, which is hurting staff and hurting students.”
