Sussex university students lose Dissertation Dash battle

Former students joined a Facebook campaign to try to "save the dash"

Management and students at the University of Sussex have agreed a compromise to mark the deadline for handing in final-year work.

But the traditional Dissertation Dash, so beloved by generations of its students, has been scrapped.

Instead, there will be a day of deadline celebrations on 13 May - which the university is going to joint-fund.

The students' union said it was "incredibly disappointed" with the decision but expected a fun day.

Clash of priorities

The dash began during the 1990s, as arts and some social-science students at the Brighton university discovered a fun way of marking the final hurdle to their degree.

It featured a race through part of the campus to Falmer House, where the final dissertations had to be handed in to the central office by the 16:00 BST deadline.

However, this year's deadline fell during the exam period, causing a potential clash of priorities, and there was no single location to submit work.

The university refused to yield over the dash but has agreed to a day of celebrations - dubbed Deadline Day.

There will now be a number of bar-based activities, a barbecue, giant inflatables and DJ.