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‘Wall of shame’ highlights impact of marking boycott on students
A university union has created an online ‘wall of shame’ to highlight the impact of a marking and assessment boycott (MAB) on University of Bristol students.
Thousands of students across the country are graduating without grades after members of the University and College Union (UCU) refused to mark or assess papers.
The boycott began on 20 April and is part of a fierce row over pay and working conditions.
is needed now More than ever
In Bristol, UCU has published a catalogue of what it calls “acts of academic vandalism” resulting from the marking boycott.
It includes hurried feedback given by unqualified markers, unclassified paper degrees, made-up marks and skewed marking.
In response, Bristol Uni insisted that its quality assurances throughout the MAB have been “transparent and balanced” and accused UCU of causing “further distress to our students” .
University of Bristol “Wall of Shame”: MAB 2023
Open to @Bristol_UCU members + Uni staff to add their ‘outrages’https://t.co/NhUh03Qwc6
— Bristol UCU (@Bristol_UCU) July 12, 2023
On the anonymous ‘wall of shame’, one post reads that units were marked and moderated by PhD students and staff “with no subject knowledge”.
Another claims a third-year module was marked by an honorary visiting academic “who has never taught at Bristol” and gave inadequate feedback.
Some other posts cited the lack of external scrutiny at the exam board.
A spokesperson for the University of Bristol said: “We take this course of action by Bristol UCU extremely seriously.
“We are disappointed they have behaved in such a way to cause further distress to our students and hamper local negotiations, which are due to continue today.
“We will be investigating whether there has been any breach of our information handling, social media and HR policies.
Striking university staff refused to mark all exams and assessments
They added: “Throughout the marking and assessment boycott, our quality assurance processes have been transparent and balanced.
“They have been debated and validated by our highest academic body, Senate, and applied with rigour to ensure that we only classify degrees and make awards where there is sufficient evidence of student achievement to do so.”
More than 140 universities across the UK have refused to mark exams or assessments since the boycott began.
UCU said it would meet with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association for talks on Friday.
All photos: Rob Browne
Read next:
- Bristol University staff strike to demand better pay
- Bristol Waste bin strike called off as pay deal reached
- Parliament to debate how better to protect university students
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