SCOTTISH students took a formal petition to Holyrood today after a letter signed by hundreds of social-work undergraduates calling for fair treatment was snubbed by ministers, campaigners said.

The Scottish Parliament is being urged to help students in their third and fourth years of study, where they will spend around 200 days on placement, by providing them with bursaries.

Campaigners, supported by the Social Workers Union and the Scottish Association of Social Workers, have warned that students are being forced to work full-time on placement, study and work anti-social shifts or rely on food banks to make ends meet.