It has been reported that a former PHD student, Jacob Meagher, who did not successfully complete his doctorate, is taking Cambridge University to court because his disability - which is not specified - was not taken into account in the Viva Voce exam. He is claiming that this has cost him a lucrative career as a barrister which he was promised on completion of his PHD. He was told that he could resubmit his thesis the following year, but has seemingly not done so, taking the university to court instead.
I feel that l am missing something somewhere. Whatever the reasons, this man did not pass his final exam. I can understand how disappointed he must have been, but if a course of study is on a pass or fail basis, surely you have to accept the possibility of failure.
I have taught piano, violin and viola all my career, as well as accompanying other instrumentalists and singers. I have entered countless people for exams. The vast majority have done really well, but, very occasionally, a candidate is not successful. Only once have l felt the decision was unfair. They have two choices - either to give up or learn from their mistakes.
A few years ago, I had an interview to become a music examiner myself. It was highly competitive and I was unsuccessful on this occasion. Was l disappointed? Of course, but I accepted that I was not the right person at the time. When I was thinking of of becoming a music examiner, people would ask me from time to time how I could bear to fail anyone. My answer was that I would not know the candidate personally and, if an exam was to retain its integrity, I could not possibly let a candidate pass if they were not playing at the standard they should be. I would always add that on the examiner’s report there is a section for general comments and I would write something along the lines of “unfortunately your playing was not up to the standard required to pass today.” This is important because it shows that it is not the end if someone fails on one particular occasion, but with a bit more work they have every chance of success on another occasion.
I think that the prizes for all culture that has been so prevalent in the past generation or so has led to some people being less resilient than in the past and also more entitled, which means that they will blame anyone but themselves when things do not go to plan. I would be very interested to hear other views on this topic.
