A total of 145 institutions across the UK are impacted after members of the University and College Union (UCU) refused to mark or assess papers in a fierce row over pay.

The dispute has been ongoing since April and has resulted in blank certificates being issued at ceremonies.

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) said it has tabled a pay offer of a rise worth between 5% and 8%.

The two sides are due to meet at Friday lunchtime in a bid to bring an end to the saga.

Mary Senior, UCU's Scotland representative, told Sky News she was grateful fresh negotiations will begin.

She said: "We are relieved the employers have finally come back to the negotiating table.

"They need to address the disruption we have seen in the university sector.

"It has been scandalous that students have been graduating with empty scrolls.

"Our members are resolute, and the employers need to make an offer that can resolve this dispute."

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Glasgow University student Emily Bell, 22, previously told Sky News it was "embarrassing" to graduate despite her dissertation not being marked.

The English literature graduate said: "We are all feeling disregarded. We have spent upwards of six hundred hours on this dissertation. To have such a huge project not marked, possibly not ever, is a little bit scary."

The body representing universities in the pay talks recently suggested they are already stretched to their financial limits and cannot offer any more cash.

Raj Jethwa, chief executive of UCEA, said: "Many of them (universities) are already in deficit before we started the pay talks, many more will struggle to be able to afford this pay uplift."