Umer Riaz failed his first year and then deferred some of his second year modules

A student is seeking £200,000 in damages from his university because he failed to get the marks that he wanted.

Umer Riaz, 33, has vowed to take his battle to the highest court in the land when his case was kicked out by Cardiff County Court after the University of South Wales told a judge he had ‘no prospect of success’.

Umer, who came to the UK to study from Islamabad, Pakistan, received a pass – the equivalent of a third class degree.

He started studying chemistry in 2011 but had to re-sit his first year after failing to get the required credits.


In 2014 his second year modules had to be deferred until the next year after he said he ‘suffered a fall’.

Umer wanted an honours degree in chemistry but he only achieved a pass

As a result, he failed to get enough credits for an honours degree and had reached the maximum registration period for his course.



He appealed the marks he was given, but after the case was thrown out he said: ‘I’m going to fight this even if I have to take it higher, even to the UN. I’m very, very keen that I take it as high as I can.’

A spokesman for the University of South Wales said all processes were followed ‘fairly and accurately’.

Mr Riaz, who represented himself, said: ‘I was quite good at my studies and I passed my English courses back home.

‘I was the youngest and my family wanted to give me the opportunity for higher study. My parents are illiterate, they didn’t go to school.

He tried to claim £200,000 in damages but the case was thrown out

‘A pass doesn’t mean anything to me. Having a pass degree is not going to help me to get anything.

‘I wanted to do a PhD in organic chemistry. I was in my final year starting to apply for jobs in Europe, in the Middle East and do further studies.

‘I had a couple of emails from Italy and Germany. They said were were impressed by my approach but unfortunately I do not have enough credits.

‘If I had an honours degree I would have been smashing it. I would have been working in decent places like my other colleagues.’

He now faces a large legal bill after his court claim failed.

He has said that he will take his case to the UN if necessary

He said: ‘It’s been very stressful. I went through trauma, I went through illness. My mum cries a lot, she cries too much. Back home when you go to court you have police around you so she is worried about me. I talk to her every day and tell her I’m fine.

A spokeswoman for the University of South Wales said: ‘We take all complaints seriously and are keen to uphold our rigorous standards.

‘All of our processes have been followed fairly and accurately, and this has been reflected by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education. As there may be further legal action, it is not possible to comment further.’

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.