Cambridge students may graduate without degree results after markers’ strike

Politics and sociology students at Cambridge University will not get their exam results until October unless staff back down on their marking boycott.

Emails sent to second and third year students say that if there is “no resolution” to the industrial disputes, the results will be released “shortly after” September 30.

In the meantime, those in their final year will be given a letter to give to prospective employers explaining when they will receive their actual results.

The correspondence, first seen by Varsity, the university’s newspaper, said this would be sent out in early July.

Some students fear the delay endangers the chances of scholarships, graduate placements and conditional offers for higher studies.

‘No contact or assurances’

One student, known only as Alex, who holds offers for two Masters programmes told the newspaper that they have received “no contact or assurances” from either of their placements, or “even acknowledgement” of the industrial action.

The national marking and assessment boycott by the University and College Union (UCU), began on April 20 in protest over lecturers’ pay and working conditions.

Emails from the university’s politics and sociology department say that exam results could be released “on schedule”, if the dispute is resolved “in the coming weeks”.

Dr Anthony Freeling, the acting vice chancellor of the University of Cambridge, told staff earlier this week: “Time is now running out. For Cambridge students, we need to find a way forward this week.”

“So I make a simple and passionate plea to all of you. Let us do everything we can together to let our students graduate as normal this summer. With my colleagues, I will continue to make all possible efforts to ensure a positive outcome for this group of students – as I want to for our staff too.”

The University of Cambridge has been approached for comment.

The fallout of the boycott has also spread to other Russell Group universities.

One fourth year student at Durham University told The Telegraph that students are “sleepwalking into a situation where they leave their universities not as graduates but simply ex-students.”

“Moving into the professional world, we will have nothing tangible to evidence three years of hard (regularly strike-disrupted) work and £27,750 paid in tuition fees.

“Teaching strikes affected both my first, second and final years. My dissertation supervisor was unable to meet and advise as they are part of the UCU.

“They now may not mark it at all. Never have university students gone into their exams more blind, and potentially for nothing.”

An email sent by Tony Fawcett, the acting pro vice chancellor for education at Durham University, and Joe McGarry, the university’s student union president, to students said they “expect that some students will not get a final or interim classification straight away”.

It continues: “This is a national dispute and subject to negotiation between university employers and the UCU. While we do all we can to seek resolution at national level, this is not something we can resolve locally.”

University of Edinburgh backlash

It comes as final year students at the University of Edinburgh were told last month that some dissertations might not be marked before graduation because of lecturer strikes.

The institution is facing a backlash from students after it confirmed that many hours spent on writing and research could be discounted from their initial degree results.

Ollie Lewis, 22, a final year politics student who has submitted a 10,000 word dissertation, told The Telegraph that if dissertations are not marked, students “will feel completely betrayed”.

A University of Edinburgh spokesman said: “Marking and returning marks on assessed work is being treated with the highest possible priority. At Edinburgh, the boycott is being taken by a small proportion of staff in some academic areas.”