For those students sitting final university exams like me, this summerโs graduations are clouded by chaos and uncertainty
This yearโs graduations, universities claim, will be indistinguishable from those of previous years. Except thereโs one glaring problem: as a student there isnโt much to celebrate. Currently, a marking and assessment boycott is affecting 145 British universities and, like many of the thousands of students graduating this summer, I am set to leave without a formal classification.
For the class of 2023, the same year-group whose GCSEs were reformed in 2018 and A-levels cancelled in 2020, this marks the end of a deeply dispiriting educational journey.
Kimi Chaddah is a student at Durham University and a writer on education and politics
This article was amended on 13 June 2023. An earlier headline said that the writer would be left โwithout a degreeโ; this is not the case for students at Durham University. An earlier subheading implied that negotiations had halted at Durham University, while they are ongoing. Engagement in negotiations varies (an earlier version said there was โno negotiation from university managementโ) and all marks do not have to be received before a final degree can be awarded. A comment from Durham University denying that inexperienced people are marking exam papers has been added.
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