A-level results day 2018

[truman 10]

All of them. Utterly stupid. They debase the concept of academic studies and reading for a degree. Circus management for heavens sake!

 

You sound a bit eltist there....some of those courses relate to sectors which produce a lot of cash for the UK...fashion,music,sport,leisure...

 

What sort of revenue does a degree in fine art or history provide?

[bendix 10]

You sound a bit eltist there....some of those courses relate to sectors which produce a lot of cash for the UK...fashion,music,sport,leisure...

 

What sort of revenue does a degree in fine art or history provide?

 

Here is the issue. A degree in fine art and history teaches people to think and be analytical and, yes, it teaches them to write. People with degrees in the fine arts and areas like that move into all sorts of jobs. I work in a law firm. We regularly hire people with degrees like that.

 

A . . .a hem . . degree in Equestrian Psychology or Circus Studies . . nahhh, I dont think so.

 

If that is elitist, so be it.

 

The bottom line is that when universities create this nonsense simply to satisfy the requirements of the 40% or so who go to university, they achieve only one thing: They devalue having a degree. And that is no good for anyone.

Edited August 17, 2018 by bendix

[truman 10]

Here is the issue. A degree in fine art and history teaches people to think and be analytical and, yes, it teaches them to write. People with degrees in the fine arts and areas like that move into all sorts of jobs. I work in a law firm. We regularly hire people with degrees like that.

 

A . . .a hem . . degree in Equestrian Psychology or Circus Studies . . nahhh, I dont think so.

 

If that is elitist, so be it.

 

The bottom line is that when universities create this nonsense simply to satisfy the requirements of the 40% or so who go to university, they achieve only one thing: They devalue having a degree. And that is no good for anyone.

 

Degrees in the "nonsense" courses ,as you put it,(I happen to think a degree in Fine Art is nonsense but,there you go) also teach kids to think,research and write reports...as I asked before,are there many takers for these courses?

Edited August 17, 2018 by truman

[Jonny5 10]

Including my son

 

A's in Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

The holy trinity of rock hard A-levels!

 

Well done to your son

[nikki-red 308]

Does it not bother you that everyone seems to get As all the time now, and everyone goes to university. Back in the 1980s I think only 5% managed to get into university, and it meant something. Now it seems everyone goes, and employers dont see it as anything important, especially when the universities are full of people doing Sports Studies, The History of Basket Weaving and BAs in Sheep Shearing.

 

 

Why would it bother me? Hes worked very hard and Im really proud of him. I also find it quite offensive that you feel the need to demean his (and every other student that did wells) achievement.

 

 

Hes doing Chemical Engineering at Uni by the way, he didnt fancy Sheep Shearing.

Edited August 18, 2018 by nikki-red

[ez8004 10]

Yes. My two best friends here have lectured at Hallam for close to 25 years each. Both are appalled at the deteriorating quality of the kids they get through, many of whom can barely articulate a thought in writing coherently and yet who seem to think they have a divine right to get a good degree simply because they have invested that money. They have literally had to deal with students telling them they will sue because they got a bad mark in an essay, because they genuinely believe they are buying a degree, not earning one.

 

Here are some real degrees offered in UK universities:

 

Hairdressing-salon management — University of Derby

Fashion-and-lifestyle products — Southampton Solent University

Watersports science and development — University of Portsmouth

Sports-surfaces management — Glyndwr University

Contemporary circus and physical performance — Bath Spa University

Equestrian psychology — Glyndwr University

Cruise management — University of Plymouth

Surf science and technology — University of Plymouth

Pop-music performance — University of East London

Sexual-health studies — University of Central Lancashire

 

Which of those universities are actually worth going to?

 

You give me a pointless course from a university from the Russell Group then I might take some notice. At the moment, all your ranting is just mere noise to me.

 

---------- Post added 18-08-2018 at 19:30 ----------

 

Does it not bother you that everyone seems to get As all the time now, and everyone goes to university. Back in the 1980s I think only 5% managed to get into university, and it meant something. Now it seems everyone goes, and employers dont see it as anything important, especially when the universities are full of people doing Sports Studies, The History of Basket Weaving and BAs in Sheep Shearing.

 

I don't think you would be even able to to get a decent pass in those A Levels Nikki's son did.

[altus 540]

Here is the issue. A degree in fine art and history teaches people to think and be analytical and, yes, it teaches them to write. People with degrees in the fine arts and areas like that move into all sorts of jobs. I work in a law firm. We regularly hire people with degrees like that.

The reason people with degrees in fine arts and the like get all sorts of jobs is because they have no choice - there are so few jobs related to the subjects they studied.

[I1L2T3 10]

Including my son

 

A's in Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

 

Congrats Nikki!!

 

Well done to your lad

[Annie Bynnol 612]

Yes. My two best friends here have lectured at Hallam for close to 25 years each. Both are appalled at the deteriorating quality of the kids they get through, many of whom can barely articulate a thought in writing coherently and yet who seem to think they have a divine right to get a good degree simply because they have invested that money. They have literally had to deal with students telling them they will sue because they got a bad mark in an essay, because they genuinely believe they are buying a degree, not earning one.

 

Having had to return for post graduate qualifications I was appalled by the quality and delivery of teaching and attitude to students.

In the 80's inadequate staff were brought in quickly to fill the need of being a university offering a full range of academic courses, rather than the more limited range at Polytechnics. Many of these staff blamed the students not realising that they went to university at a time when only 11% of the population graduated. It had doubled and would doubled again. Some of the staff had no idea, nor cared about the change in their student population.

Some had to be replaced as they could not supply evidence for qualification claimed.

 

Some people do not access mainstream traditional courses easily for huge variety of reasons. Some need more time and support. Some courses, modules, foundation degrees etc. enable a young person to achieve their aim.

It does not matter if your degree is from Oxford, Bristol or through Sheffield College, if you get your training and your job so that you become a contributor to society.

[Guest]

Does it not bother you that everyone seems to get As all the time now, and everyone goes to university. Back in the 1980s I think only 5% managed to get into university, and it meant something. Now it seems everyone goes, and employers dont see it as anything important, especially when the universities are full of people doing Sports Studies, The History of Basket Weaving and BAs in Sheep Shearing.

You're failing to take into account the profound changes to higher education which have occurred in the going on 40 years since the 80s. Vocational occupations such as nursing, non-clinical medical professions like biomedical science, and non-laboratory based medical science professions have become degree-based in changes initiated by their respective professional bodies. Back in the 80s students were attending courses at respected polytechnics and other predominantly technical institutes with long established reputations in the appropriate subjects. In 1992, many of those institutes became universities. Since then, other vocational subjects have similarly changed from, for example, HND, HNC or related professional or technical qualifications to being degree-based.

 

The problem, I think, isn't the broad-based nature of university education, no matter how disdainfully some might view professions outside traditional academia; the problem is with traditional academic subjects and the perception of some potential students seeking those qualifications. As most involved in recruiting graduates to competitive positions will agree, not all traditional academic degrees are created equal, and some academic institutions are viewed more favourably than others. I don't think some students are fully aware that their degree might not put them on an equal footing with others with a degree in the same subject.

 

As for 'dumbing down' of university education: lecturers have been snipping course content since at least the 80s - certainly since I was a new graduate in the early 90s - to account for changes to A Level and GCSE syllabuses. Similarly, academics have long noted that students new to higher education have some deficiencies in grammar and spelling. What's relatively new is the extent to which new students have difficulty in adapting to the independent nature of university education.

[realcockney 10]

A* and A,s mean nothing now nearly all get them, exams are dumbed down from when we took them, its all to do with inclusiveness, same with soft degrees, nobody does the work anymore.

[Guest]

Which of those universities are actually worth going to?

 

You give me a pointless course from a university from the Russell Group then I might take some notice. At the moment, all your ranting is just mere noise to me.

A few years back folk were all sniffy and sniggery about the worth of degrees in Social Studies, Sociology, and Film Studies. All three are offered by Warwick, for example. Times (and universities and their degrees) change.

 

---------- Post added 19-08-2018 at 12:43 ----------

 

A* and A,s mean nothing now nearly all get them, exams are dumbed down from when we took them, its all to do with inclusiveness, same with soft degrees, nobody does the work anymore.

8% achieved A* in 2018 compared to 8.3% in 2017.

Edited August 19, 2018 by Guest