Students in Lanarkshire could be hit with delays to appeals with staff at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) voting for strike action.
Unite the Union has confirmed three days of strike action on September 8, 15 and 16.
An overtime ban and ban on accrual of time off in lieu will also be in effect from September 8 to November 30.
The SQA will confirm the results of priority appeals to UCAS on September 6.
In terms of standard appeals, the appeals service opened on August 9 and the deadline for centres to submit these is September 2.
Unite’s industrial action will now disrupt the standard appeals stage of the process with the trade union estimating that up to 22,000 standard appeals will be ‘severely delayed’
In a consultative ballot in July, Unite announced that 95 per cent of its SQA members rejected a ‘derisory’ pay offer which is worth between 1.7 to four per cent depending on job grading.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Unite’s SQA members have emphatically supported strike action due to a derisory pay offer which is worth as low as 1.7 per cent for some workers.
"There are serious concerns over education reform in Scotland, and specifically what this means for the jobs of our members going forward.
"These concerns have in no way, shape or form been addressed. Unite will always defend our members’ jobs, pay and conditions.”
In 2021, the Scottish Government announced it would disband the 1000-strong SQA.
It tasked Professor Ken Muir with bringing forward several proposals for the reform of Scotland’s education and qualifications system.
Three new national bodies are to be created - a qualifications body, a national agency for Scottish education, and an independent inspection body.
The Scottish Government has given a commitment to delivering an operating model for these new bodies by the winter of this year with the new bodies to be fully operational in 2024.
Unite maintains that it will be impossible for the new operating model to be in place later this year without the legitimate concerns of its members being addressed.
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