A Canadian exchange student who is unable to graduate due to the exam boycott worries she may have to leave Scotland.
Emma MacKenzie, 22, has signed a lease on an apartment and taken a full-time job.
However, with the deadline on July 26, the University of Edinburgh English and Art History student will not be able to extend her visa.
She is one of thousands of students at 145 institutions across the UK affected by the University and College Union (UCU) boycott.
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The union claims the boycott, which began April 20, could affect more than half a million deals this summer.
And she has promised to continue taking action until employers make an improved offer on wages and working conditions.
Universities are making independent decisions on how to minimize the impact, so the impact on students will vary.
Edinburgh University students told BBC Scotland they received blank scrolls with a letter of apology when they graduated on Tuesday.
A protest rally was also held in Bristo Square, in front of McEwan Hall, where a graduation ceremony was held.
A spokeswoman for the university said: “We are deeply sorry that we have not been able to protect our students from the effects of this nationwide dispute.”
Miss MacKenzie, who paid tuition fees of £4,700 for the year as well as £1,000 for her visa, said she was beginning to fear she would have to fly back to Toronto.
She told BBC Scotland: “I’m at the stage now where I have to accept that I’ll be forced to return to Canada, it’s really worrying.”
“It’s a devastating situation and the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of fear and a sense of having lost control.”
“I feel let down by the university. I did everything that was asked of me and rightfully earned and paid for my degree.”
Miss MacKenzie completed the first three years of her undergraduate studies at Toronto University.
But now that her exchange visa is about to expire, she wants to secure a High Potential Individual (HPI) visa.
Any graduate of one of the top 50 universities in the world can apply to stay in the UK for up to two years.
However, due to the nearly three-month dispute between UCU and employers, the students have not been able to receive their full qualifications.
Ms MacKenzie said Toronto University could not award her the undergraduate award she worked for because she could not receive her final grades from Edinburgh University.
She added Edinburgh was also unwilling to give her prospective grades or even a pass/fail grade – either of which would have allowed her to apply for the HPI visa and stay.
The student said: “I’ve been in contact with the university for weeks and I’m trying to solve the problem.”
“In the last communication I received, I was told that the university had received legal advice not to assist me and that they apologized for not being able to give me the information I was looking for.
“If nothing changes in the next few weeks I will be forced to return to Canada and it is very uncertain.”
Ms MacKenzie said students were not given any information about when to expect their grade and fears it could be months before she can apply for a visa.
She added: “Do I have to sublet the apartment? Will I lose my apartment entirely? my job? I don’t know what to tell them. That is very, very discouraging.”
Izzi Brannen, 22, received a blank scroll for her photography degree at Tuesday’s graduation ceremony in Edinburgh.
She told BBC Scotland: “I am very angry. It was up to the university to resolve this dispute, but they didn’t, so I now have a blank scroll.”
“The fact that I don’t have a degree will affect my future. It’s very uncertain.”
“I was paying £9,250 a year plus maintenance.
“It’s embarrassing. If you go to university and work hard, which is what I have, you should graduate.”
Francesca Lehrell, 22, who has a degree in psychology and sociology, said, “I just have to go home and wait for my degree because there’s nothing else I can do about it.”
“I’m very angry and I really tried to prioritize my degree by working hard for it. And I did well, but now it doesn’t matter at all.”
“It seems to me that this is all for a purpose? Nothing.”
Another graduate, Mariangela Alejandro-Cortez, said: ‘It’s been a really tough struggle, especially during Covid, and now four years later I’ve just received an email telling me my degree is indefinitely delayed.”
“Right now I can’t apply for a graduate visa because I don’t have a degree. This means I have to apply for an extension to my student visa but this will cost an additional £750 more than my monthly rent.
“I paid around £79,000 to come here and am heavily in debt at the moment.
“It really pisses me off to know that not only did I spend a lot of money but I worked really hard for four years of my life to get this degree and I just don’t have one and I don’t know if I can do it .” I will ever get one.
A University of Edinburgh spokeswoman said: “We recognize the significant impact this industrial action is having on the lives and future plans of our students.”
“The impact of the boycott will vary from student to student and we are supporting individuals on a case-by-case basis, including arranging one-on-one meetings to discuss alternative visa options when there are delays in submitting grades at a visiting student’s home university.”
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