‘When I done my degree….’

Couldn't believe it when an advertisement regarding money said 'save pense'........

Made me shudder!

There are less people ……aaargh ……there are fewer people who understand the difference between less and fewer.

Charleygirl5

I would put money on it that it was for media studies.

Don’t you mean meedya?

You's is all eeleetis an biarsed

Not arf.

😊😊😊 This thread made me chuckle even as it made me wince.

Germanshepherdsmum

Which universities accept such low grades?

Sorry, do not understand your question. To apply to Uni you have to achieve a 'C' for GCSE in English and Maths - and then whatever grades required at A'Level.

If you fail to achieve a 'C' in maths or English, you can then re-take in Year 12 whilsts doing A'S levels in 4 subjects.

So you may be required to get, as an example, 2 A's and 1 B' in the subjects you are going to study at Uni, and a 'C' at GCSE in English and maths (as a minimum. Of course this would not be applicable if you applied to do English or Maths. That is in England and Wales, not Scotland with Highers.

Fleurpepper

Students normally take 4 AS Levels in Year 12, and 3 A'Levels for year 13. Only a tiny minority takes English at A'Level, and when they do, it is mostly litterature.

As opposed to Langguage?

I would dispute the “tiny majority” observation!

Fleurpepper

Germanshepherdsmum

Which universities accept such low grades?

Sorry, do not understand your question. To apply to Uni you have to achieve a 'C' for GCSE in English and Maths - and then whatever grades required at A'Level.

If you fail to achieve a 'C' in maths or English, you can then re-take in Year 12 whilsts doing A'S levels in 4 subjects.

So you may be required to get, as an example, 2 A's and 1 B' in the subjects you are going to study at Uni, and a 'C' at GCSE in English and maths (as a minimum. Of course this would not be applicable if you applied to do English or Maths. That is in England and Wales, not Scotland with Highers.

We don't normally use the letters for GCSE grades any more. They are numbers these days, and the old C at GCSE is a Grade 4.

My daughter's teachers weren't at all pleased when she decided to take A Level English Language along with her Biology and Chemistry. They didn't think she would get very far in science without 3 science A Levels (this was the 90s) In fact she got a place through clearing without even an interview and went on to get a 2.1 and a PhD and has worked ever since.

In fact she found the English A Level was a great help with her own writing and with helping her students to produce their dissertations. Not so much help is needed by the foreign students who tend to have a better grasp of English grammar. After all this she still rings me from time to time to ask the difference between affect and effect!

Sago

A graduate I met had an English degree, a masters and a PGCE.
She was struggling to get a teaching post, I suggested a couple of ideas that may have helped her.
She said “was you a teacher”.
I despair.

Maybe Sago, she should have wait while Monday for your answer.

You Grans, you have writ it wrong.

Joseann

Fleurpepper

Germanshepherdsmum

Which universities accept such low grades?

Sorry, do not understand your question. To apply to Uni you have to achieve a 'C' for GCSE in English and Maths - and then whatever grades required at A'Level.

If you fail to achieve a 'C' in maths or English, you can then re-take in Year 12 whilsts doing A'S levels in 4 subjects.

So you may be required to get, as an example, 2 A's and 1 B' in the subjects you are going to study at Uni, and a 'C' at GCSE in English and maths (as a minimum. Of course this would not be applicable if you applied to do English or Maths. That is in England and Wales, not Scotland with Highers.

We don't normally use the letters for GCSE grades any more. They are numbers these days, and the old C at GCSE is a Grade 4.

We don't normally use the letters for GCSE grades any more. They are numbers these days, and the old C at GCSE is a Grade 4

That has really upset me. ☹

Our GCEs were graded from 1 - 9 years ago, 1 being the highest pass (probably what some may think of as A*)
My 1s sound like fails!!

Everyone has to do English in year 12 hear, but. Youse can study up the paddicks if youse wants.

When I did my first degree (1980s) I could not believe how low the standard of English was among home based students. Many of them had enjoyed far more in the way of advantages than I had. Grammar schools, private tutoring and so on. When I later began working at the uni I was told off for marking too strictly. You had to work your ass off to get a first from me.

biglouis You had to work your ass off to get a first from me.... or be supremely and exceptionally talented, presumably.

I had a great friend who sailed through her first (undergraduate) degree nearly as easily as A levels.
She did work very hard (always) but probably didn't actually need to.

I think, as you probably do, that there are far too many firsts given out now.
In "our day" they were rare and precious things.

Firsts, like any other grades, are not in the gift of individual lecturers. There are checks and balances to prevent people taking it upon themselves to decide who gets what, and people don’t get to set standards of their own.

This applies within modules where there are different staff marking assignments, across different modules on courses and between different degrees. There is internal moderation at assignment levels, and External Examiners moderate between universities to ensure fairness there, too. If there is grade inflation (and I would agree that there has been) it is a sector-wide phenomenon.

I have had colleagues who liked to think that they could withhold marks, as in their heads their standards were somehow superior to others’, but they had to get off their high horses and accept that the system wouldn’t let them.

When it comes to regional ways of speaking, the chances are that non-standard English would be marked down in an essay, but much like on here, (where, for example, the use of ‘uni’ instead of ‘university’ is tolerated), in general conversation it doesn’t matter.

There will always be those in any walk of life who cling to anything that gives them a perceived advantage, and mocking others for syntax errors, and assuming that this denotes a lack of intelligence is a cheap way of doing so. One of the advantages of going to university is usually that students meet and mix with people from outside their ‘bubbles’ and learn to respect differences, but there are always those who are too set in their ways to benefit.

Well said Doodledog.

When I later began working at the uni I was told off for marking too strictly. You had to work your ass off to get a first from me

As a former examiner for public exams (GCSE, A-levels) my marking and that of others was standardised at a Standardising Meeting. Any examiner who diverged too far from the standardised marking system after this meeting would be scaled down or up and would not find themselves appointed the following year.

I'm 66 and was never taught English grammar at school. In fact my grandchildren are taught it more than I was. For me, it made learning another language more difficult because I didn't understand what different tenses were etc.
Most of my understanding of how to "speak correctly" was picked up automatically because I read prolifically and was surrounded by people who spoke well (including those on the TV at that time)

Doodledog

Firsts, like any other grades, are not in the gift of individual lecturers. There are checks and balances to prevent people taking it upon themselves to decide who gets what, and people don’t get to set standards of their own.

This applies within modules where there are different staff marking assignments, across different modules on courses and between different degrees. There is internal moderation at assignment levels, and External Examiners moderate between universities to ensure fairness there, too. If there is grade inflation (and I would agree that there has been) it is a sector-wide phenomenon.

I have had colleagues who liked to think that they could withhold marks, as in their heads their standards were somehow superior to others’, but they had to get off their high horses and accept that the system wouldn’t let them.

When it comes to regional ways of speaking, the chances are that non-standard English would be marked down in an essay, but much like on here, (where, for example, the use of ‘uni’ instead of ‘university’ is tolerated), in general conversation it doesn’t matter.

There will always be those in any walk of life who cling to anything that gives them a perceived advantage, and mocking others for syntax errors, and assuming that this denotes a lack of intelligence is a cheap way of doing so. One of the advantages of going to university is usually that students meet and mix with people from outside their ‘bubbles’ and learn to respect differences, but there are always those who are too set in their ways to benefit.

I rather agree with you, even though I've made a couple of jokes. Considering that my grammar and syntax cannot pass unchallenged, I'm being a tad hypocritical.

Some days ago my partner, who is Swedish (therefore English is not his native language), noticed that the word "disgusting" was not infrequently written as "discusting" and wondered if in fact it was an alternative spelling. This lead to a conversation about spelling / grammar, etc.

The English vocabulary is huge - one of the biggest - and certainly larger than his native Swedish, also Norwegian. When we both lived in Norway, I noticed that when a native Norwegian couldn't find a word in their native language to describe something, they would often use an English word. He said this is quite common in both Norway and Sweden - where English is the 'second' language.

He's quite fluent in English, both spoken and written and thinks it's a lovely language (he is an Anglophile anyway), and does not tolerate well those who mangle it. He is - in Swedish, pedantisk!

We both agreed that there is a difference between people who try to articulate, but sometimes get the spelling and grammar wrong (which I certainly do sometimes) and those who are just too lazy to bother or care.

I never pick on any individual personally for their spelling or grammar (people in glass houses, etc), but I make an exception when (usually on Facebook) a random person is insulting me because of my POV and does so in a diatribe full of spelling mistakes and / or poor grammar; particularly if that person has told me - as one particular woman frequently did - that I'm a deluded 'lefty' who should get a education because I think stupid.

I got a BA at the ripe young age of 47 collecting various diplomas on the way a Diplom in management, a diploma in health and social welfare, a diploma in the care field. This eventually got me a job in the voluntary sector where I became a service manager for 18 yrs
Let no one say your too old to learn every day is a school day.

multicolourswapshop

I got a BA at the ripe young age of 47 collecting various diplomas on the way a Diplom in management, a diploma in health and social welfare, a diploma in the care field. This eventually got me a job in the voluntary sector where I became a service manager for 18 yrs
Let no one say your too old to learn every day is a school day.

Wow!

That is impressive - I started to mentally deteriorate in my late 40s .

I really like your name BTW!

eddiecat78

I'm 66 and was never taught English grammar at school. In fact my grandchildren are taught it more than I was. For me, it made learning another language more difficult because I didn't understand what different tenses were etc.
Most of my understanding of how to "speak correctly" was picked up automatically because I read prolifically and was surrounded by people who spoke well (including those on the TV at that time)

There is a quotation that I can't find as I don't know who said it and can't get enough of it right to look it up, but the gist is that when someone pronounces something unusual incorrectly it means that they have only seen it written down, which shows more intellectual curiosity than having learnt it from someone else.

I think there is a lot of wisdom in that, although believing it requires a humility that many just don't possess.