Students fear degrees could be ‘devalued’ as lecturers stage marking boycott

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A university spokesperson said: “The university has robust measures in place to reduce the impact of industrial action and we are making every effort to provide results, degree award outcomes and progression decisions to students by the published timelines.” They added that “temporary variations” are in place to “ensure academic standards are not compromised”. She said: “If the Scottish Government really cares about helping adults out of poverty, why are they ignoring a pay dispute which threatens to stop thousands of students having access to a better life which they have worked hard to achieve?” It comes as £46 million of funding originally pledged to colleges and universities was withdrawn by the Scottish Government after it was marked as an “essential saving”. Scottish Labour education spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy said: “Students who have been working hard towards their degrees for years face their work not being marked or counted towards their degree, while staff face their wages being docked for taking legal action to protect their pay, terms and conditions. “They deserve much better than this.” Lib Dem education spokesman Willie Rennie said: “This generation of young people have already suffered from a pandemic body blow, now they are under a cloud of industrial action.