Apostrophe catastrophe, # 52

From a reference request form issued by Teach First:

Perhaps the writer was confused by the politically-correct pronouns and decided not to attempt the possessive apostrophe (singular or plural?) at all. Oddly, the only logical reason for the convoluted phrasing at the beginning of the second sentence is to avoid the need for a pronoun, or why not simply say ‘If the candidate has not already obtained [his/her/their/a/the] degree’?

The repeated verb obtain, rather than achieve, rather suggests that the candidate will be shopping at one of those suspect websites that offer a study-free degree in exchange for money…

candidates degree