A SENIOR lecturer revealed today that he is living off £4 a day due to his university’s “arbitrary” 100 per cent pay deductions for taking part in the marking boycott.

Dr James Pickles, 31, told the Morning Star that he was given one day’s notice that he would receive no pay on July 31, despite working for the entire month writing research papers, organising symposiums and preparing lectures for the next academic year.

The criminology lecturer at the University of Brighton said that he had just returned from annual leave and has been hit by rising mortgage and cost-of-living costs.

He has also shared a photo of a meal of donated boiled potatoes and baked beans on Twitter, writing: “This is my meal for tonight because all I can afford is donated potatoes and a tin of beans since the University of Brighton stole 100 per cent of my wages for not marking three dissertations.”

He told this newspaper: “Some universities are recognising that marking is only a percentage of our workload, deducting 10, 20 or 25 per cent.

“But others, which are a minority, like Brighton, are deducting 100 per cent of our monthly wage — it seems very arbitrary.

“It’s just so disproportionate to deduct 100 per cent of my wage with a cost-of-living crisis, when we have mortgage payments going up — everything is going up.”

He said that he ran out of money three days ago but counted himself lucky not to have dependants and to be able to rely on friends and family for support. 

“I’m going to my local foodbank on Monday when it opens,” Dr Pickles said.

“I come from a working-class background so poverty is not a new experience for me but I supposed entering into academia I never thought I would be budgeting for the absolute minimum.

“I’ve budgeted I’ve got £4 a day to live on.”

Jo Grady, general secretary for lecturers’ union UCU, which is preparing legal action against the pay deductions, said: “Many members of university staff are struggling to pay bills or even put food on the table due to employers’ immoral pay deductions.

“It is as sickening to see staff losing every penny of their pay for not marking a few essays. These attacks on staff are nothing short of an attempt to destroy collectivism and trade unionism.”

The University of Brighton has been contacted for comment.