Uni of York apologises after spam email leaves students confused they’d failed degree

The University of York has apologised after students received a spam email which left many confused whether they had in fact failed their degrees, just two weeks before their graduation.

Five final year Geography and Environment students were sent an email on Thursday which told them they had “failed to meet the requirements” to be awarded their degree. One student that received this email told The York Tab that “no one at the uni [had] any answers” as to where the email had come from, or what it meant.

A spokesperson for the University of York told The York Tab that the email was the result of an “error” produced by an “automated system response that fell outside of a testing schedule”, which has now been “identified and corrected.”

At the end of last week, a handful of final year Geography and Environment students were left confused after receiving an email telling them they had “failed to meet the requirements” to be awarded their degree.

Although the email – which often contradicted itself and uses irregular phrases – included contact numbers for both the Student Hub and the Careers Service, one student affected told The York Tab they could find nobody to verify the email.

The student, who had already received their full degree marks unaffected by the marking boycott, said “no one at the uni [had] any answers” as they desperately tried to establish whether the email was fake or not.

In fact, it wasn’t until the following day when students on the course were contacted and reassured that the email was in fact sent in error and the university apologised for the disruption it had caused.

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A University of York spokesperson told The York Tab: “We are sorry that this error occurred and the distress it may have caused. The error, which produced a letter with irregular phrasing and formatting, was produced by an automated system response that fell outside of a testing schedule, and has now been identified and corrected.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• ‘We’ve been abandoned’: Final year York students on the impact of the marking boycott

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• York’s Vice Chancellor and UCU call for negotiations to end ongoing marking boycott