Quote Originally Posted by Oracle View Post
Particularly in Scotland. A third world education, now, I gather.

At another level I saw it with my own eyes stagger.

In the ten years from my graduation, to taking on many graduates and postgraduates in my own businesses,
I think they had lost a full year, the 4 year science graduates knew roughly the same as their 3 year peers had done a decade before.

Confirmed more recently by OH recruiting a hundred or more bio scientists taking phds where they used to take masters, masters where they took graduates, and employing graduates to do former technician jobs. All downhill.

A variety of reasons:
the reduction of traditional A level maths physics courses to Lukewarm technology courses; the reduction of rote learning in favour Of continuous assessment, the rebranding of excellent vocational higher national courses in the old polytechnics to become lukewarm stripped down degrees; A major one: The “ market. “ for matriculation boards favoured those with lower standards; Lots of bird courses like psychology taking over from good science basics.

As an employer I found the claim that young people were better educated because of more A stars, a totally risible claim. They knew far less than their B and C peers from twenty years before. But they expected higher rewards!

One reason Germany has succeeded is it still values good vocational engineering qualifications, done along side work, and values those who have them, as do I. Far more take employment and vocational qualifications there.

Where the U.K. seems to think , I think wrongly as an employer , that lukewarm degrees are better .

It has been a slippery slope for 40 years.

Stroking my long grey beard in a croaky voice.... the youngsters of today.....
When I was doing some homework on Unis for WPette, must be 9-10 years ago now, I was interested in Stirling due to her running background. The facilities looked excellent, but the 4 year courses puzzled me and of course, 4 years fees were undesirable.

I contacted the faculty and asked about it. In a nutshell most students need year 1 to bring them up to the old year 1 level.
If she could get 60 more points (BBB from CCC if I recall) she could start at year 2 and make it a 3 year course.

In the end it didn't make the short list, she got ABC and went to her first choice Bangor.