Final year university students say they are reaching "breaking point" as a series of teaching strikes and marking boycotts throw their studies into chaos.

Some in their third year of study at the University of Kent fear for their futures after enduring disruption from 10 separate walkouts by staff since 2019 - losing up to 12 weeks of teaching.

Lecturers announced a marking and assessment boycott at the start of the month, and with another strike planned for next week, students are worried their grades could be impacted.

They say it could lead to delays in receiving feedback and marks on their work - leading to uncertainty about how they are performing.

But the University of Kent, which has campuses in Canterbury and Medway, insists "there are no circumstances in which we would risk the integrity and value of our degrees".

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are walking out nationally on Monday for five days amid ongoing disputes over pensions and pay.

Some members at the University of Kent are also taking part in a marking and assessment boycott in a local protest over a review of staff costs in the arts and humanities department, and the school of anthropology and conservation.

Third-year history student Hannah Ash, 21, says she has lost 12 weeks of teaching throughout her time at university due to 10 separate strike actions.

"When they’re striking you can’t get in contact with tutors or professors," she said.

"If you have an exam or essay coming up, they literally won’t reply to you."

She also believes students - who pay £9,250 a year in tuition fees - should be offered compensation for the disruption.

"I think it is absolutely ridiculous the fact they’re still charging this amount of money," she added.

"Especially during Covid - I think we should have got some money back.

"I’m paying but not getting anything during the strike weeks."

Third-year law student Maisie Wheeler, 21, says her experience at university has been "pretty awful" because of the strike action and the impact of Covid.

“It feels university is just a background thing in my life at the moment," she said.

“It should be the main thing I’m focused on but it’s not been prevalent.

“I think this year everyone has got to breaking point and it has affected our initiative.

“Nothing we do at this point can further our experience and I think we’re giving up with Covid and the strikes."

She is among a number of students organising a protest over the strike action.

Another third-year law student, Michelle Tan, 21, raised concerns about the disruption.

"When [staff] are on strike, I don't have a lecture which means I have to catch up on the material myself which takes significantly longer," she said.

"If the seminar leader is striking, we don’t have that follow-up to confirm what we're learning on that topic."

While she does support the concerns of staff, she believes the marking boycott is "taking it way too far".

"It has already been stressful as it comes up to the final deadline and exams," she added.

"But with the extra pressure of the boycott, it’s unreal and it makes you lose the motivation to do the exams."

The University of Kent says it "remains a point of principle that no student should be disadvantaged" by the strike action.

"We know how important it is that the huge effort students put in is appropriately recognised," a spokesman continued.

"Whilst we continue regular discussions with UCU, we are also introducing mitigation plans to minimise disruption to our students, ensuring that students' learning, graduations and future plans can continue without interruption.

"This is about having options available if (and only if) our normal processes are disrupted - we have been clear that there are no circumstances in which we would risk the integrity and value of our degrees.

"We also have not - and would not - dispense with our system of external examiners, whose skill and input remains a vital strand of ensuring the maintenance of our academic standards."

The spokesman added that not all academic staff are UCU members, and not all members are taking strike action.

UCU regional support official Ade Phillips: "Senior managers at the University of Kent are refusing to rule out compulsory redundancies in the division of arts and humanities and in the school of anthropology and conservation.

"UCU members are boycotting all assessments and marking until management commits to not sacking any more staff.

"We do not want to be in this position, but recent redundancy rounds have already seen more than 300 staff lose their job and any further staff cuts would seriously damage student learning.

"We cannot allow this to happen. We urge management to commit to not making any further compulsory redundancies so that we can end the boycott."