ANGRY student leaders claim a pay dispute between lecturers and universities is putting the futures of thousands at risk.

University of York student union president Micky Armstrong said the protracted pay dispute is jeopardising the future of the university's entire 10,000-strong student body - not only those in the final year.

He said the failure of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and University of York bosses to come to an agreement over how to end a boycott of exams and assessments is causing "anger and worry" across the board.

Mr Armstrong said: "Lecturers' hands have been forced by what is a farcically funded higher education structure.

"But we have got to look after the students, a lot of whom are getting very stressed over the situation because they are unsure of what's going to happen.

"It's not just final year students who are worried. We have been getting calls from first and second years who are equally concerned about what's going to happen to them."

The 23-year-old said students had worked hard and paid a lot of money, and deserved to have their work marked properly.

At York St John University College, there are about 130 staff in the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) and the AUT.

Student union president Jack Woodhams said: "We have been urging concerned students to email their heads of school, but nobody knows what is going to happen, and the uncertainty is no good for anyone."

Last week, academics warned University of York bosses they risked harming the reputation of its degrees.

The warning came after the university's governing body met to agree an emergency plan to hand out degrees, despite a boycott of exams and assessments by lecturers.

Members of the AUT claimed university chiefs could grant "devalued degrees".

The refusal to mark exams and assessment work is part of a campaign to improve pay.