Manchester University is giving £500 to all final years who don’t have their marks by graduation

Manchester University is paying £500 to all final years who don’t have their full degrees by their graduation ceremony.

The university has said it believes less than three per cent of the 11,400 Manchester students set to graduate this summer – around 340 students – are still yet to receive their full degrees as a result of the ongoing UCU marking and assessment boycott.

By the end of today, it said, the university will have emailed every student who is set to graduate, confirming the status of their degree.

“We are putting in place as much support as possible for those impacted by the boycott and will continue to do all we can to award degree classifications as quickly as possible”, Manchester said.

Students who have delays in receiving their full degree beyond the date of their graduation will be paid £500 by the university.

If the delay is resolved before ceremonies start on the 11th July – next Tuesday – students will get a £150 payment.

The uni is also giving students a letter they can share with prospective employers or universities for further study, which will “explain the context and assure them of the quality and standards of our awards, and help explain the situation”. You will get this during your graduation ceremony, or you can contact the university.

Since April, lecturers at almost every UK university have been refusing to carry out marking and other assessment-related work like exam invigilation. This follows weeks’ worth of strikes earlier this academic year, as staff are in an ongoing campaign for better pay and pensions, among other things.

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At Glasgow, the first Russell Group university to have its graduations this year, students held protests last month over being given certificates without having any actual degree classification. At Edinburgh, up to 2,000 students will be graduating without marks with students saying they’ve been “forgotten” by the university. Cambridge students cannot graduate without all their papers being marked.

Only a quarter of UK uni students support the marking boycott, a survey by The Tab found earlier this term – compared to almost three-quarters of students who supported the lecturer strikes earlier this year.

As well as the payment and letter for future employers, Manchester University stressed students can access support via its website.  If a student has an existing care plan with the uni’s counselling service, you will still have access to services until you’ve received your final degree award.

“Whilst we appreciate only a small number of colleagues have chosen to exercise their legal right to take action, and many of our colleagues have continued to work as normal in the interest of our student community, the MAB [marking and assessment boycott] participation and in some cases, lack of reporting has led to unavoidable delays for some students in receiving marks for their assessments”, Manchester University said.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Russell Group university becomes first in the UK to end marking boycott dispute

• Strathclyde UCU claims missing graduation livestream is due to student protest during ceremony

• Uni of York looking to find ‘alternative, well-qualified markers’ amid marking boycott