Glasgow students have MA degree course offers revoked following university admin error

An administrative error at the University of Glasgow has caused two students to be incorrectly informed they had qualified for Master’s degrees. 

The aeronautical engineering students, who wish to remain anonymous, were three days into the new academic year, having already enrolled in Master’s-level courses and begun attending classes, when the university informed them they had been admitted to the wrong programme.

Both students had been studying on an exam-only basis after failing the third year of their integrated Master’s course. Following their April/May examination date, they received what appeared to be confirmation that they had met the requirements to progress to the Master’s-level part of the course.

In an email dated 25th June 2026, Dr Douglas Thomson, the university’s Chief Adviser of Studies, told them: “I’m pleased to confirm that with the grades you have, you now meet the progress requirements to proceed to the next year of your degree.”

The email further confirmed that they would be able to register in August and restart their studies in September.

Relying on this confirmation, both students enrolled in their Master’s-level courses ahead of the new academic year.

However, on 23rd September, the university abruptly reversed its decision.

In an email titled “progress error,” Dr Thomson explained that “manual checks” had revealed the university had “sent you the wrong progress outcome”.

The email continued: “Although you can indeed progress to year four, your GPA for third year is 10 which is well below the requirement for M.Eng. We therefore have to move you on to the B.Eng. Degree.”

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The university explained that the change would require them to select a BEng project and make alterations to their fourth-year courses. Dr Thomson apologised for the error, citing the professional accreditation requirements imposed by the Engineering Council as justification for the strict MEng entry criteria.

But the students had already spent three days attending classes for a degree they were no longer permitted to study.

via Unsplash

One student told The Glasgow Tab: “I knew the rules about progression according to GPA, but I didn’t know it applied to me. Nothing stopped me from fully enrolling in a Master’s course as originally planned, or from attending the first three days of classes. It was only halfway through day three of the academic year that they got around to telling us we were in the wrong place.”

Both students have since been forced to re-enrol in fourth-year undergraduate courses. Their plans have been significantly disrupted, with both now expecting to graduate a year earlier than anticipated, with a Bachelor’s rather than a Master’s qualification.

A University of Glasgow spokesperson told The Glasgow Tab: “We are aware that due to an administrative error two students were wrongly progressed to a Master’s course. The university has apologised to the students and rectified the situation. There has been no changes to the courses the students were on this semester.”

The University of Glasgow has been called out for grade-related administrative errors in recent years. In December 2024, a student died by suicide after the university incorrectly informed him he had not passed his course. 

If you have been affected by the content of this article, university students in Glasgow can access wellbeing services here. Anyone can contact the Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123.  Alternatively, you can contact Shout, a 24/7 text messaging service, by texting the word “Shout” to 85258.

Featured image before edits via Google Maps