Student fears having to quit UK over uni marking boycott

A Canadian exchange student who has no degree due to the exams marking boycott fears she may have to leave Scotland.

Edinburgh University student Emma MacKenzie, 22, has signed a lease on a flat and accepted a full-time job.

But she cannot renew her visa to stay in the UK unless she has received her qualifications by the 26 July deadline.

She is one of the students at 145 institutions across the UK have been affected by the University and College Union's (UCU) boycott.

The union says the boycott, which began on 20 April, could affect thousands of graduates.

It has vowed to continue its action until employers make an improved offer on pay and conditions.

Edinburgh University said it was "profoundly sorry that we have not been able to shield our students from the impact of this UK-wide dispute".

Miss MacKenzie, who paid £4,700 tuition fees for the year as well as £1,000 on her visa, said she was beginning to fear that she would have to fly back to Toronto.

She told BBC Scotland: "It is a devastating situation and these past few weeks have been a whirlwind of anxiety and feeling out of control.

"I feel failed by the university. I've done everything asked of me and I've rightfully earned and paid for my degree."

She completed the first three years of her undergraduate degree at Toronto University.

But now that her exchange visa is running out she wants to secure a High Potential Individual (HPI) visa, which allows people who graduate from one of the top 50 universities in the world to apply to remain in the UK for up to two years.

She said Toronto University cannot give her the undergraduate award she worked for because the marking boycott means she has not yet received her final grades from Edinburgh.

Miss MacKenzie said Edinburgh had also been unwilling to provide her with projected grades, or even a "Pass/Fail" note - either of which would have allowed her to apply for the HPI visa and stay in Scotland.

The student said she had been in touch with the university for several weeks trying to resolve the situation.

She said: "The last communication I had I was told the university has been given legal advice not to assist me and apologised for not being able to give me the information I was looking for.

"If nothing changes in the next few weeks I'm going to be forced to go back to Canada and it's very up in the air.

"Do I need to sublet the flat? Am I going to lose my flat altogether? My job? I don't know what to tell them. It's very, very disheartening."

Other Edinburgh University students have described how they received empty scrolls with a letter of apology at their graduation ceremonies on Tuesday.

A protest was held in Bristo Square outside the university's McEwan Hall, where the ceremony took place.

Izzi Brannen, 22, said it was "shameful" for the university to be handing out empty scrolls, adding: "I'm very angry. It was down to the university to settle this dispute but they didn't so now I have an empty scroll.

"The fact that I don't have a degree is going to affect my future. It's very uncertain.

"I've paid £9,250 a year plus maintenance. It's shameful. If you go to university and work hard, which I have, you should get a degree."

Another graduand, Mariangela Alejandro-Cortez, said she had paid about £79,000 to come to Scotland to study at Edinburgh and was severely in debt.

She added: "It makes me really angry knowing that I have not only spent a lot of money but I've spent four years of my life working really hard to get this degree and I just don't have one and I don't know if I'll ever get one."

A University of Edinburgh spokeswoman said: "We recognise the significant impact this industrial action is having on our students' lives and future plans.

"The impact of the boycott varies from student to student and we are supporting individuals on a case by case basis, including arranging individual meetings to advise on alternative visa options where there are delays in providing marks to a visiting student's home institution.

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