The University and College Union said that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer should be “backing staff, not bosses”, after he urged academics taking part in the UK’s assessment boycott to mark students’ work.
Thousands of students who are due to graduate this summer are expected to not get their final degree classifications due to industrial action tied to UCU’s long-running pay dispute with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (Ucea).
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme before he made a major speech on Labour’s education policy, Sir Keir was asked whether he would ask academics to mark papers so that students can graduate.
“I would,” Sir Keir replied. “I do feel very uncomfortable with this. I don’t want to tell them how to run their dispute, but I know how many of those young people will be feeling when they can’t get their paper marked, can’t get their degree or even going in some cases, I think, to graduation ceremonies where they’ll be handed a blank piece of paper.”
