Students at Manchester University could face delays to their graduation this year as marking boycotts threaten to impact final exams.
Teaching staff at universities across the UK are refusing to mark exam papers and dissertations, as ongoing disputes over pay and working conditions intensify.
University and College Union (UCU) members have been participating in the action short of a strike, which also impacts exam invigilation and the processing of marks, since April.
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The University of Manchester were unable to confirm that summer graduations would go ahead as planned when asked by the Manchester Evening News. In a statement, they said they 'are committed to doing absolutely everything we can to minimise the impact of the boycott on students'.
But students spoke of their fears and frustrations over the uncertainty, which could see graduates turned away from jobs or further study if they fail to graduate this summer.
Joe McFadden, 21, is a final-year History and Politics student. He said the boycott was causing heartache for friends with grade-dependent future offers, as well as chaos for those trying to plan their summers.
"It's just frustrating as we were the year that started in Covid and have had so much disruption to our studies," he said. "It's definitely annoying as everyone's planned their life around graduation already - I've already got hotels booked - which just makes the confusion worse."
One Master's student, who wished to remain anonymous, claims she had been told by a tutor that her graduation would be delayed. "I've not had any marks back since January," she said. "We have no idea how we are doing."
In a statement posted to their student news website, a UoM spokesperson said they 'understand that this situation may be causing concern' but wanted to 'reassure' students that they are 'committed to doing absolutely everything we can to minimise the impact of the boycott'.
The statement said most students will not be affected 'at all', and added that not all University staff are members of the UCU, and not all members will participate in action short of a strike.
"We expect that the impact of this action will vary across the University and will be very limited in most areas," they said. "All exams and assessments will proceed as planned.
"Above all, we are focussed on maintaining the integrity of our awards and supporting you to receive the assessment outcome you have worked so hard for. University groups are working together at pace to explore various options, policies, and processes to ensure contingencies are in place."
Addressing the boycott, the university added: "The marking and assessment boycott is about pay and working conditions. Pay is being negotiated at a national level, which means we can’t act alone on this issue.
"We have offered to enter discussions with our local unions about how we can improve employment contracts and working conditions, including the use of fixed term contracts and reducing pay gaps. These local discussions have already begun.
"We do recognise the impact of the increased cost of living on our staff, so even though national pay negotiations weren’t able to reach a collective agreement with UCU this year, university employers have provided pay uplifts to all our staff. This ranged from 8% for the lowest paid staff, to 5% and is in addition to the increments that about half our staff receive annually.
"As well as the cost of living payments we made to students this year, we also made one-off payments to all colleagues except the Senior Leadership Team, totalling many millions of pounds."
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "A national scandal is brewing that will see hundreds of thousands of students graduate with degrees not worth the paper they are written on, unless universities make staff a fair pay offer. With the employer body now refusing to negotiate students and their parents will rightly be furious.
"Our analysis shows the university sector is richer than ever, generating tens of billions of pounds in income and hoarding billions more in cash deposits. Yet universities are waging a war on staff and students by withholding the pay of staff engaged in the marking boycott and devaluing degrees.'
"If vice-chancellors cared about staff and students, they would use the sector's vast wealth to end this dispute tomorrow."
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