One of Britain's top universities has been forced to give its students thousands of pounds in compensation after they were told their degrees didn't cut the mustard.
Sussex University has apologised to students taking the journalism course after they graduated without accreditation from National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), the industry standard.
The students, who paid £9,250 each year in tuition fees to complete their degrees, have now received "at least £500" each in compensation.
'All for nothing'
Bosses at the university have reportedly apologised to students face to face after the journalism department's "decision to withdraw from the accreditation process".
But for Emily Hume, a recent graduate on the course, a sum of money amounts to little.
"I was just really annoyed that I had put all the work in for nothing," she told The Sussex Tab.
"News days didn't count towards our degree and the module that was made up of them in third year was awful.
"I felt like I couldn't develop my skills because the module just consisted of creating pieces independently with very little feedback and no guidance from tutors."
In this summer's Guardian league table for journalism degrees, the most recent, Sussex is placed at rock bottom - 61st - scoring just 34.5 points out of 100 for student satisfaction. This is despite the course having the 12th highest average entry criteria in the same ranking table.
Sussex defended the course as good quality, and insisted it was marketed to students as "seeking accreditation" but that receiving the formal certificate was "never guaranteed".
A spokesperson added: “In recognition of our decision to withdraw from the accreditation process, we awarded compensation of at least £500 to each journalism student at Sussex.
"In addition, we have told those students that we will pay for them to take the NCTJ correspondence course at any time, including several years after graduation should they choose to.”
