Edinburgh University bosses warned it could take 'decades' to repair marking boycott damage

Lecturer questions what industrial action victory would look like for management

An academic has warned it could take “decades to repair” confidence in Edinburgh University in the wake of its response to a marking and assessment boycott.

Fraser MacDonald, a historical geography lecturer at the institution, said UK universities were in “a crisis that threatens their most basic operation”.

And in an article for the London Review of Books, he said there was a risk in Edinburgh that what emerges in the wake of industrial action “might look like a university, but it won’t feel like one”.

University of Edinburgh sign. Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Staff at universities across the country have been taking part in a marking and assessment boycott since April, amid a dispute over pay and conditions.

Edinburgh University academics and students have been outspoken in condemning the response by management, which has involved pay cuts for participating staff and a decision to continue awarding degrees, often without classification or with the usual level of scrutiny.

In his article, Dr MacDonald outlined the rigorous way grading was normally interrogated behind-the-scenes, including externally.

"The marking and the exam board are what make their degree matter – they are the difference between a certificate and a receipt for fees paid,” he said.

But currently he said exam boards that would usually have had 15 people are “now deemed quorate with just a chair, two non-striking academics and a regulations expert – even if there isn’t an external examiner”.

The academic also questioned what a “win” would look like for university management in the industrial dispute, warning it was likely to be a “loss by any other name”.

"What emerges might look like a university, but it won’t feel like one,” he wrote.

"Confidence in the mission of the university – the idea that it is something more than a real-estate business with an educational side hustle – will take decades to repair.”

However, Dr MacDonald said the unanimity of staff had given him some “hope” for the future. “We remember that we are the university,” he said.

Edinburgh University has been approached for comment.

It has previously said: “The university will enact contingency plans to mitigate disruption to the delivery of learning and teaching, and student experience whilst maintaining academic standards.”