Graduate ready to sue over 2:2

A graduate is ready to take his alma mater, Edinburgh Napier University, to court in a bid to get his 2:2 degree upgraded to a 2:1.

Glen Dickson received a score of 59.41 per cent for his course in architectural technology, leaving him 0.9 per cent short of the threshold that would have guaranteed him a 2:1.

He says his current degree has made it impossible to find a job and believes mitigating circumstances, such as a car crash and health problems in his final year, should have been taken into account when deciding his classification.

Dickson also blamed a "disastrous" module for dragging down his overall score, adding that there had been a number of complaints from other students about this portion of the course and around one-third of the class had failed it.

"I worked really hard throughout my whole degree and I had a 67.9 per cent average at the start of the year. Then this nightmare module made me drop by six per cent," he said.

"My average after all my exams was 60.26 per cent but a weighting is applied to the final exams, so it ended up at 59.41 per cent.

"In the university rules it says that people who score between 58 and 59.4 per cent should be considered for a 2:1. It says people with 59.5 per cent or over are automatically a 2:1 but in between those scores, there isn't any guidance. I'm not aware of anyone who has scored like this before, but it's left me in a sort of purgatory. All I'd like is my 2:1 score."

The university told the Scotsman newspaper that it could not discuss individual cases but added it has "rigorous processes to ensure the correct degree classification is awarded".

Dickson has reportedly taken legal advice and is applying for civil legal aid to pursue his claim.