Nottingham students who want work marked will not receive certificates at summer graduation

Final year students at University of Nottingham who decide to reject their derived, or part-for-whole, marks will not receive a certificate at summer graduation.

Students who opt for their work to be worked, whilst still being able to graduate with their cohort, will walk the stage without knowing their true degree classification.

Instead, their certificate will be posted to them once all their worked had been marked but the university did not state how long this could take.

Alternatively, students can opt for a later graduation when their certificate is ready but this will not be with their cohort.

Amid the ongoing UCU marking boycott, the University of Nottingham has asked students to agree for their work to never be marked.

Students will instead receive marks derived from their previous academic performance, or “part-for-whole” marking, rather than ever having their final year assessments marked.

In a post made to their website, University of Nottingham said: “If you choose not to accept your derived or part-for-whole mark we will not be able to confirm your classification until your work is marked.

“Please be assured that you will be able to attend your graduation in July with your cohort and course mates as expected. Whilst your certificate will not be available to collect, we will post this to you as soon as your work has been marked and your classification is available. We will update you with this information as soon as we have it.

Jessica, a final year languages student, has said she doesn’t want a “guesstimate” for the “worth of her hard work” so is going to reject her derived mark and opt to wait for all her work to be marked.

She told The Tab Nottingham: “Getting my dissertation done whilst struggling with my mental health has been one of the greatest achievements of my life, and one that these ’emergency regulations’ would rob me of.

“I want full credit for the work I have put in, for better or worse, but this will mean graduation with an unknown classification this July, and waiting however long for the true results. It’s heartbreaking.”

Jessica still intends on attending the graduation ceremony with her cohort but said the position she is in is “gut-wrenching”.

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