Good morning. Finishing the last exam of your degree course should be one of the happiest moments of a student’s career. The stress of finals is over, the hard work has paid off. Graduation beckons and, beyond that, the next exciting stage of life.
But for tens of thousands this summer, the reality is proving very different. A marking boycott by the union representing many UK university lecturers means that tests are being left ungraded and dissertations unassessed.
As a result, many students may have to wait months before they know what degree they have achieved. Some may even graduate with a provisional qualification, only to be told later that they have actually failed their course.
It’s a mess, and for those affected the latest unwelcome challenge in a miserable university career beset by A-level and Highers cancellations, lockdowns, strikes and the soaring cost of living.
For today’s newsletter, I talked to the Guardian’s education editor Richard Adams about what this dispute is all about – and how the unluckiest year group in recent history are once again losing out. First, the headlines.
Five big stories
Net zero | The government’s plans to hit net zero have been criticised in a report by its own advisers that warns targets are being missed on nearly every front. Lord Deben, outgoing chair of the CCC, said the UK had “lost the leadership” on climate action shown at Cop26 in 2021 and done “a number of things” that were “utterly unacceptable”.
Julian Sands | A body that was discovered in the wilderness near Mount Baldy in California on Saturday has been confirmed to be that of the missing British actor Julian Sands. San Bernardino county sheriff’s department had been coordinating a search for the actor who was reported missing on 13 January.
Health | Senior doctors in England have voted to go on strike over pay for the first time in nearly 50 years. Hospital consultants will strike for two days on 20 July, which will bring major disruption to services that have already had to reschedule 651,000 appointments since a wave of NHS strikes began last December.
Covid | Matt Hancock has said he is “profoundly sorry” for his part in mistakes that meant the UK was not properly prepared for Covid. He told the Covid public inquiry that he had not properly challenged assurances that sufficient planning was in place.
UK economy | The UK’s largest mobile and broadband companies have been accused of fuelling “greedflation” after pushing through the biggest round of price hikes for more than 30 years. Six companies controlling most of the telecoms market all charged a 3.9% supplement on top of their annual inflation-linked increases this year, meaning millions of customers have faced mid-contract price increases of up to 17.3%.
In depth: ‘It’s hard to see how any of this will resolve itself – the ill will is substantial’
Half a million students have been sitting final year undergraduate exams this term; around a third, it is thought, will face delayed or incomplete marking before they know their final degree result. In some institutions, the proportion is much higher.
At some universities, students have already taken part in graduation ceremonies despite not knowing what degree they have achieved. Some Edinburgh students have been promised a “letter of completed studies” rather than a degree certificate, while others at Durham were promised an “interim transcript of their work” for now, with a graduation ceremony, eventually, next spring.
As well as widespread uncertainty, for some it may also affect existing job offers, postgraduate study, bursaries and – in the case of some overseas students – their visas.
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Why is there a dispute?
At the root of the current unhappy stalemate is a dispute between the University and College Union (UCU), which represents 120,000 further and higher education academics and support staff, and the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA), which acts on behalf of academic institutions across the UK.
“This dispute over pay and working conditions has been ongoing for a couple of years,” says Richard, “but it’s obviously been heightened by the rapid rate of inflation and cost of living.”
Having settled a separate dispute over pensions, in April UCU members rejected a pay offer for the 2023-4 academic year. Richard says: “UCU says that because of the rising cost of living, that now needs to be revised. And the employers’ negotiating team says no. They’re not going to reopen it.”
The UCU says its members have seen their pay cut in real terms by 25% since 2009, while vice-chancellors continue to receive large salaries. In April, its members voted in favour of a marking boycott. “So that’s where we are – in a stalemate, and nobody will move.”
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How widespread is the problem?
There’s no doubt that some institutions have been hit harder than others, says Richard. While it is true that “there are some universities where students are barely affected,” others are still working out how many degrees they will be able to award. However, some Scottish institutions seem particularly badly impacted, he says, while in Cambridge, for instance, half of the university’s final-year undergraduates and up to 90% of postgraduate students on taught courses are affected.
The UCEA has sought to downplay the impact, saying that a proportion of its members report that only 1-2% of their student populations won’t be able to graduate this summer. A majority of its members who replied to a survey said only a small proportion of their staff were taking part, the body said. However, “there is no possibility of a new pay uplift in the 2023-24 pay round”.
The UCU, for its part, challenged the universities’ figures and accused the body of “spinning”. “Students aren’t graduating, staff aren’t being paid. Meanwhile, the employer body responsible for solving this mess is wasting its time issuing press releases. It is time for UCEA to stop the truth-twisting and get back to the negotiating table with a better offer.”
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What happens next?
Most of those stuck in limbo waiting for results will eventually get them, says Richard, although it is not easy to see how the dispute will be resolved. Tuition fees in England have been stuck at £9,250 since 2016, he notes, and universities say they are now running almost all courses for UK students at a loss. Meanwhile, the response to the dispute from some institutions has been a 100% pay cut for the duration of the boycott, leading to real hardship for some of those taking action.
Richard says: “The universities say they’re in financial difficulty, they can’t afford to pay any higher pay rises. The union says, that’s nonsense, that the universities have got large surpluses they’ve built up and that they can afford it.
“It’s kind of hard to see how any of this will resolve itself. The ill will that’s being created between staff and the employers in a lot of universities is substantial. But nobody seems to be able to move.”
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The unluckiest year group
Perhaps the unhappiest aspect of the boycott is that many of the students affected have already seen huge disruption.
Although Scottish universities mostly run four-year courses, meaning those taking final exams this year are likely to have escaped the A-level and Highers mess of 2020, others in the graduating class of 2023 have experienced a succession of miseries.
First their end of school exams were cancelled due to Covid, then there was a farcical U-turn over grading them. Record high results led to a glut of students taking up university places, but ongoing Covid restrictions meant shuttered campuses, online learning and, for many, a nonexistent student social life.
Their student years coincided with a rocketing cost of living, but maintenance loans haven’t been adjusted to keep up. Their learning was interrupted by strike days in disputes over pay and conditions and pensions. And now this.
For those affected, “it could hardly have been worse,” says Richard. “They have had a triple whammy of Covid, the cost of living and industrial action. It’s been a pretty unhappy time.”
In one respect, however, “they are slightly lucky, in the sense that people who start this year are going to get into even bigger debt, and they’re going to have to pay it off for 10 years longer. So [their situation] is very slightly better, I suppose.”
What else we’ve been reading
When the civil war in Syria broke out, Turkey and Lebanon welcomed swathes of refugees fleeing the violence. Over a decade later, the story has reversed, with both countries ramping up deportations with devastating consequences. Ruth Michaelson, Asmaa al-Omer and Edmund Bower’s dispatch reveals the human cost of these hostile policies. Nimo
What do Joan Collins, Boris Johnson and Katie Price have in common? They were all at a party thrown by Evgeny Lebedev in Umbria that really happened, unbelievable as that fact remains. Marina Hyde’s reminder of events, and examination of its host, is exactly what you want to read on the subject. Esther
Even though Tuppence Middleton prefers to keep a low profile, she has decided to take a role portraying Elizabeth Taylor, one of the most glamorous stars of the 20th century, on the West End. Emine Saner spoke to Middleton about how the role has changed her. Nimo
Once, Swiss finishing schools catered to well-heeled young women hoping to become the perfect hostesses. Today only one remains - and its clients aren’t debutantes but business execs. Read about it in the Economist. Esther
High-stakes cheffing drama The Bear was one of the biggest TV hits of 2022. As the show returns for a second season, Adrian Horton examines why so many are so enamoured with its characters. Nimo
Sport
Football | A new report has revealed that 82% of female footballers in Europe that took part in a survey experience discomfort wearing football boots. Across Europe the ECA found that a fifth of players had resorted to customising their boots, with a majority using specialised insoles.
Football | Stormzy and Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha are set to become joint owners of non-league club AFC Croydon Athletic. Both grew up around the corner from the club and have now decided to invest in the team in an attempt to “do what’s right for the local community”.
Golf | The proposed merger between the PGA and Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Tours in professional golf is still “in enormous flux” because the parties are facing a six-month deadline to agree the final details of a deal, according to Ron Johnson, the senior Republican senator who is investigating it.
The front pages
The Guardian leads with “Government adviser condemns UK for failed ‘leadership’ over net zero”. The Mirror has the latest on the ongoing Covid inquiry and former health secretary Matt Hancock’s evidence, with the headline “Sorry is not enough”.
The Sun reports on the inquest into the death of Nicola Bulley and the text message her partner sent her after she went missing with “Have you got lost?” The Mail has “7 days of NHS chaos as senior doctors walk out”. The Telegraph reports “Doctors on £100k to walk out over pay”.
The Financial Times reports “Putin admits Kremlin paid billions to bankroll Wagner’s paramilitaries”, while the i has an exclusive story: “Putin’s plane flies Russian diplomats home from America”.
Today in Focus
The oil company CEO running the next UN climate change summit
When the Guardian environment editor Damian Carrington received a reply to an email he had sent to the organisers of this year’s UN climate change conference, he noticed something unusual: it was stamped with the name of the state oil company of the hosts.
He tells Michael Safi how an investigation led to him proving that the United Arab Emirates were running the conference by sharing an email server with Adnoc, the state oil company. It would have allowed the oil company access to every email to and from the conference organising committee. In response to the finding that Adnoc servers were involved in Cop28 office communications, a Cop28 spokesperson said: “We have been migrating our data from the previous host to our own setup.”
Cartoon of the day | Steve Bell
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Despite opening her restaurant in early 2020, and having to quickly close down due to Covid restrictions, Mmabatho Molefe’s still managed to develop a formidable name for herself in the culinary world. Three years later, at just 28 years old, Molefe started her stint as the latest guest chef in the prestigious “open kitchen” of the London restaurant Carousel.
Mmabatho Molefe grew up in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, and it is the flavours of her home and the Zulu diet of her childhood that forms the basis of her menu. She champions “lesser” meat cuts like offal, indigenous staples, and so-called “peasant dishes” that have long faced prejudice. Her own restaurant back in Cape Town is now open and, because the culinary world is still so dominated by white men, Molefe has decided to hire an all-black and, for a time, all-female staff to run it.
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
• This article was amended on 28 June 2023. An earlier version said that the University and College Union and the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Associationhad agreed a settlement over the 2023-4 academic year. In fact, in April UCU members rejected a pay offer. Also, pupils in Scotland take Highers, not A-levels.
