King’s College London students could graduate without their dissertations being marked

King’s College London students face the potential threat of graduating without their dissertations being marked this year due to the ongoing UCU marking boycott.

This morning social science and public policy students were informed via email that their dissertations may not be marked as a result of members of the department taking part in a marking and assessment boycott, which effects the dissertation module.

Despite this, an update made yesterday to the King’s College London website confirms that all graduations shall go ahead as normal, as well as emphasising that “no student should experience any detriment as a result of the boycott“.

A snippet of the email sent out to students

No information was provided to effected students on how this will impact their final grade or their ability to pass the year. It also still remains unknown when the industrial dispute will be resolved and how this can be reconciled.

It is not yet known whether students from other courses and schools at the university are facing the same threat.

This is the outcome feared by many students ever since the University and College Union (UCU) announced their marking and assessment boycott on the 20th of April.

This comes after an announcement this week by Newcastle University and Edinburgh University that a “no-detriment” policy shall be introduced for students affected by the marking boycotts. This ensures that all assessments will be marked but they might be delayed. Any students with marks missing as a result of the boycotts will be provided a temporary mark from the exam board to allow students to progress to the next year of study or to make an award. These missing marks shall be entered when they are available, allowing the chance for marks to be recalculated.

Professor Adam Fagan, Vice President (Education & Student Success) told The King’s Tab: “We are doing everything possible to mark assessments and dissertations that have been submitted by students and are committed to ensuring this industrial action does not impact on the award of students’ final degrees and their graduations.”

Related articles recommended by this author:

• King’s claims students will not be ‘disadvantaged’ by boycott despite two week delay for marks

• King’s College London remains in the top 25 UK universities in new league table

• King’s students: you are more than academic validation, don’t let it damage your happiness