STUDENTS studying at Fife College have hit out after being told they would not be taking part in its graduation ceremony last Tuesday.

More than 100 graduates crossed the stage at Dunfermline Abbey to mark their academic achievements in one of five held across the Kingdom.

But students studying for a Level 6 qualification in both beauty and contemporary therapy were left shocked and angry as they were told they would not be involved in the graduation ceremony just a week before it was due to take place – despite receiving assurances from the college that they would.

Gillian Rankine, of Dalgety Bay, told the Press that she felt “let down” and “dismayed” at the u-turn, adding that the decision to merge the course from two years to 10 months had provided an even bigger challenge to attain the qualification.

‘Farcical’ She said, “When we started last year we were told that we would be part of the graduation ceremony so we feel really angry about it.

“It was a very intensive course with only 10 months to complete a two-year course and I feel that the recognition of our achievements has been taken away.

“I found out firstly through social media and email that we would not be graduating after someone went in to the college to ask about it and it is sheer incompetence from them.

“They were using a photo from the class from the year before to advertise the ceremony which made it even worse. We’ve received our qualification but that’s not the point; for us to be denied the chance to show our families what we achieved is farcical.” Fellow student Michelle Robertson added, “Now the college has merged our two-year course it is not good enough, yet every other year has been able to graduate in previous years. The students are very disappointed and two years of hard work feel unworthy of Fife College but our money was good enough to take. To be told the week before graduation is disrespectful.” Fife College was formed after a merger between the previous Carnegie and Adam Smith colleges plus course areas from the Elmwood Campus of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) in August 2013.

A spokesperson for Fife College said, “It was brought to our attention recently that some students had been led to believe that they would be eligible to graduate this year which happened as a result of a misunderstanding over previous criteria applied in our historic colleges, pre-merger, which no longer apply.

“In line with most other colleges in Scotland, the criteria for our Fife College graduation ceremonies is students who have completed courses at HNC equivalent and above (SCQF Level 7 and above). This criteria was standardised for Fife College to ensure consistency across all campuses.

“All students who achieve their qualifications are graduates of Fife College and receive an official certificate from their awarding body to recognise their success. The Level 6 courses continue to be recognised by industry as valuable qualifications and this will be unaffected by the change to the graduation ceremony criteria.

“We do appreciate that some students are disappointed by this decision, however, we need to ensure fairness to all other students on Level 6 courses who would not be eligible and are not expecting to attend graduation ceremonies.

“Our staff have been in contact with the students involved to explain the situation and to apologise for any distress caused.”