Strike action at Auckland University of Technology has ended after a pay offer to staff.

Union members temporarily withheld assessment grades as part of the protest, angering many students who said they felt like 'pawns' in the dispute.

The one-week strike action came after the previous collective agreement expired and renegotiations for a new two-year agreement failed.

AUT has now increased its pay offer to academic staff at the university to 1.6 per cent for the first year of the new collective agreement and 2 per cent for the second year, according to the Tertiary Education Union.

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The offer was made late last week and the TEU has lifted the strike early to make sure students get their grades on time.

Union branch president John Prince said the offer would be presented to members at a meeting on campus on Monday.

"We took action to get a better deal from AUT and, as a consequence of our actions, AUT has improved its salary offer. We are now continuing all our duties and ending our action as an act of good faith," Prince said.

Last week students were frustrated at the union's actions and said they could not apply for graduation as their lecturers were withholding their exam results.

TEU was demanding a 2.5 per cent pay increase starting January 1, 2016, and another 2.5 per cent increase in 2017.

About 70 per cent of AUT's academic staff belong to the union, which has more than 600 members in total.