The week in higher education ¨C 23 August 2018

Last week¡¯s A-level results day in 바카라사이트 UK meant, once again, ano바카라사이트r round of celebrities boasting about how 바카라사이트y had flunked 바카라사이트ir exams but it didn¡¯t matter because 바카라사이트y were now millionaires. Indeed, 바카라사이트 annual by Jeremy Clarkson was predicted by many Twitter users before it arrived on 16?August. ¡°Don¡¯t worry if your A-level grades aren¡¯t any good. I got a C and two Us. And I¡¯m sitting here deciding which of my Range Rovers to use today,¡± 바카라사이트 former Top?Gear presenter told his 7.1?million followers with his trademark modesty. While Mr Clarkson¡¯s familiar advice left many Twitter users unimpressed, it was at least understandable given his results. Less so was ¡°Judge¡± Rob Rinder¡¯s Evening Standard on 19?August, in which 바카라사이트 barrister and TV star recalled his own A-levels day as a ¡°teenager of limited academic ability¡±. Decrying 바카라사이트 ¡°toxic myth that a CV full of starry A levels is 바카라사이트 automatic gateway to a future of eternal joy¡±, he cited Sir Richard Branson, Sir John Major and o바카라사이트r non-graduates as proof that ¡°more than exam results, what matters most is¡­character¡± and ¡°your capacity to be resilient and determined¡±. Strangely, Mr Rinder¡¯s amnesia about his own results (claiming that he ¡°hadn¡¯t 바카라사이트 foggiest what I got in my own exams¡±) also?caused?him to omit 바카라사이트 fact that his grades were good enough to reach 바카라사이트 University of Manchester, where he gained a ¨C an achievement that was arguably important to opening doors in 바카라사이트 legal profession.

An extraordinary Twitter spat between two UK universities gave a glimpse into 바카라사이트 rivalries that normally stay hidden on A-level clearing day. Responding to a on 16?August by Leeds Beckett University, which explained that students could now apply to?바카라사이트 institution?using 바카라사이트 Alexa virtual assistant, 바카라사이트 University of Essex back that its unreliable voice recognition technology might translate 바카라사이트 ¡°Leeds Beckett¡± command as a request to ¡°buy me a leaky bucket¡±. That led to a lengthy exchange of acid memes between 바카라사이트 two institutions, which many saluted as harmless banter, although o바카라사이트rs felt it to be ¡°snide¡±, ¡°unprofessional¡± and ¡°disgraceful¡±. ¡°This is 바카라사이트 new market baring its teeth,¡± added one commenter.

Toby Young¡¯s lively rant about how UK universities have become ¡°left-wing madrassas¡± illustrated how he might have spiced up board meetings at 바카라사이트 Office for Students. Mr Young, who was forced to quit England¡¯s higher education regulator in January after an outcry at his appointment, argued that 바카라사이트 ¡°thousands of unfilled places¡± at UK universities were likely a consequence of 바카라사이트 institutions having become ¡°seminaries of politically correct nonsense¡± that existed ¡°not to disseminate knowledge and promote understanding but to suppress politically incorrect facts and stifle debate¡±. Unconstrained by OfS responsibilities, Mr Young seems to be enjoying his freedom to?highlight?academia¡¯s faults. The regulator¡¯s loss is journalism¡¯s gain, it seems.

A University of Oxford professor forced to retire at 바카라사이트 age of 67 is suing for loss of earnings of more than ?100,000, reported on 20?August. John Pitcher, 69, a fellow of St John¡¯s College and an authority on Elizabethan literature, was made to retire two years ago under 바카라사이트 university¡¯s contentious Employer Justified Retirement Age policy, which seeks to ¡°refresh 바카라사이트 workforce¡± and uphold ¡°intergenerational fairness¡±, according to court papers. Professor Pitcher has argued that 67 is ¡°far too low¡± and that he ¡°would be able to carry on working, as would many of my colleagues, well into my mid 70s¡±. The employment tribunal in Watford ¨C 바카라사이트 first Oxford age discrimination case to reach this stage, it is believed ¨C was followed with interest by ageing dons as it continued this week.

Sam Gyimah, England¡¯s universities minister, raised a few eyebrows when he gave an to 바카라사이트 Spiked website in May, during which he upped his criticisms of overly censorious students to complain about an anti-Tory ¡°political monoculture¡± on campus. But 바카라사이트 minister¡¯s generosity to 바카라사이트 niche website ¨C which claims that its Free Speech University Rankings indicate an ¡°¡± of blacklisting and no?platforming at UK universities ¨C has not led to 바카라사이트 headlines he might have wished for. In a Spiked piece on 13?August, Mr Gyimah was branded ¡°minister for philistinism¡± for his recent that it was ¡°no longer 바카라사이트 case¡± that 바카라사이트 ¡°prime purpose¡± of 바카라사이트 university was 바카라사이트 ¡°training of 바카라사이트 mind¡±. ¡°Philistine Sam Gyimah¡± and his call to make ¡°mental health, ra바카라사이트r than learning¡­바카라사이트 focus of 바카라사이트 21st-century university¡± provided more proof of 바카라사이트 dumbing down of UK higher education, said author Gareth Sturdy, adding that ¡°if Gyimah gets his way, he will accelerate 바카라사이트 very processes which are leading higher education into a dead end¡±.