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  • All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
  • felix said:

    felix said:


    Lol - she won - quit making excuses. You don't get to step into the minds of the voters you just acknowledge their wisdom and move on. :)

    Well done for not stepping into the minds of those voters in all those constituencies that you say Ruthie would walkover.

    The more gnats join the game the merrier - you can tell it's nearly xmas :)
    Though rightwingers who don't live in Scotland pleasuring themselves over Ruth is a year-round job.
  • I keep forgetting how 'young' he is - as a horse riding friend of mine observed 'riden hard and put up wet'
  • justin124 said:

    Mortimer said:

    A close mate was in Ox when our class lists were posted - he text to let me know I had a 2:2.

    His text saying 'only joking' took about 5 minutes to arrive. Painful - but character building :)
    And what is wrong with a Desmond?
    Surely it depends on when it was awarded? Back in the 1960s and 1970s most students ended up with a 2:2 and were chuffed to get anything better - but for the last twenty years or so anything less than a 2:1 is widely perceived as pretty much a waste of time. That is what rampant grade inflation has done for us!
    That is always my excuse after getting a 2:2 in 1968
    In my day it was 'Firsts or Thirds'......
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 113,957
    edited December 2017

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    For me it was about jobs/earning potential.

    I wanted to do a degree that had a clear career plan that earned me decent money.

    Couldn’t see that with Literae Humaniores
  • All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    Highly recommend it - I did my first degree as a process of elimination at the top of an academic escalator I'd been on since age 5.

    My second degree, many years later was a conscious choice - and I'd recommend the OU very highly - for the first time in my academic career I was actually taught how to write essays....
  • So a childhood hero of mine has died:

    Many of you may not remember that the last version of a European super-state would have easily killed him. Look into your souls you heathen knobs: You are not as bright as you think you are and, by measuring degrees, you are tragecting waste-fluids.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,392

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
  • DavidL said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I was the first member of my family to ever go to University. I did Law because it seemed to have a job at the end of it. And it did. But I thought that I would get an education so I could answer the questions on University Challenge.

    The content, teaching standards and general quality of my degree was a real disappointment. Law is indeed a techy subject with pretentions
    Law is also not respected as an A-level subject, surprisingly.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,392

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    Highly recommend it - I did my first degree as a process of elimination at the top of an academic escalator I'd been on since age 5.

    My second degree, many years later was a conscious choice - and I'd recommend the OU very highly - for the first time in my academic career I was actually taught how to write essays....
    That sounds a lot like me. Maths, Chemistry, Physics A levels followed by an engineering degree all focused on getting a good job.

    Years later, studying PPE with the OU for pleasure made me use my brain in completely different ways and gave me new perspectives on a lot of issues. Fortunately I started before the fees went up - I wouldn't be able to justify the cost now, and that is stopping me from going forward with an MA.
  • Ishmael_ZIshmael_Z Posts: 8,981

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    Classics possibly a tiny bit tainted by Powell, E?

    And who knew that he studied Urdu at SOAS because it would be useful when he became viceroy of India?
  • JonnyJimmyJonnyJimmy Posts: 2,548

    Does anyone know why it's 3 times more expensive to do an Open University degree in England than in the rest of the UK?

    Thanks to Vince Cable and the coalition government.
    What did they do, and how did they justify it?

    I've just been sent a prospectus and I can't believe what I'm reading. Cost in England £17,184; Cost in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales £5,748.

    Might be worth moving just inside Wales for a couple of years..
  • Ishmael_ZIshmael_Z Posts: 8,981

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wrong, where do you think Dave developed the ”essay crisis” approach to life?
  • Law is also not respected as an A-level subject, surprisingly.

    One would expect that the understanding of Law (A-Level; 1987) and it's subsequent manipulation via Cambridge Uni and 'Chambers (Getch-You)' subverts the legal implementation of said. The days of the 'rule-of-law' have long-gone: Our future is the 'law-of-rule' sadly.

  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    edited December 2017

    I keep forgetting how 'young' he is - as a horse riding friend of mine observed 'riden hard and put up wet'
    Is this a good moment to point out Katie Hopkins is 42? A life of bile and fear does not do well for the countenance.
  • Self awareness not a strong suit.....

    My contempt for career politicians knows no bounds......says Farage, who ....became an MEP in 1999.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5184815/Nigel-Farage-reveals-price-paid-Brexit.html
  • Skimming through the posts below about degrees and going back to education please can I recommend the free courses run by Stanford University in the US.

    These are effectively one part of a degree course as it is taught by the university staff but then put online for anyone to study for free. They generally last around 6-10 weeks, come with homework and recommendations for reading around the subject and those who complete the course and achieve the required mark in the homework get a certificate of achievement. This in itself is not the reason for doing the course but I would highly recommend the courses for anyone who enjoyed learning and would like to expand their knowledge.

    So far in the last year I have done the course on Reservoir Geomechanics (which has direct relevance to my work and provided an excellent theoretical background to the practical calculations I do) and the course on Nuclear Terrorism. The first of these was absolutely top notch whilst I felt the second was somewhat lacking but still interesting.

    The courses can be found at: https://online.stanford.edu/courses/allcourses

    At the moment there is quite a heavy emphasis on medical and business oriented studies but this varies through the year. I must admit I do fancy the one on Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers.
  • RecidivistRecidivist Posts: 4,679

    Self awareness not a strong suit.....

    My contempt for career politicians knows no bounds......says Farage, who ....became an MEP in 1999.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5184815/Nigel-Farage-reveals-price-paid-Brexit.html

    Actually lack of self awareness is my biggest problem. I don’t know what my second biggest problem is. Obviously.
  • stevefstevef Posts: 1,044
    Corbyn and his fanatics end the year by claiming a massive media conspiracy for not reporting that he has won an obscure peace prize no one has heard of. Then it turns out that the Labour Party didnt report it either......

    http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/channel-4-news-factcheck-team-dismisses-claims-of-nefarious-media-conspiracy-against-corbyn-in-lack-of-peace-prize-coverage/
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,846
    edited December 2017

    Does anyone know why it's 3 times more expensive to do an Open University degree in England than in the rest of the UK?

    Because after tuition fees were introduced the OU found it was being used as an alternative to bricks and mortar universities by students. The courses were just as good but the costs were a fraction of the geographic universities. So the costs were increased dramatically to compensate for this. Thus spoiling it for all the real users who were looking to get back into education later in life.
  • Skimming through the posts below about degrees and going back to education please can I recommend the free courses run by Stanford University in the US.

    These are effectively one part of a degree course as it is taught by the university staff but then put online for anyone to study for free. They generally last around 6-10 weeks, come with homework and recommendations for reading around the subject and those who complete the course and achieve the required mark in the homework get a certificate of achievement. This in itself is not the reason for doing the course but I would highly recommend the courses for anyone who enjoyed learning and would like to expand their knowledge.

    So far in the last year I have done the course on Reservoir Geomechanics (which has direct relevance to my work and provided an excellent theoretical background to the practical calculations I do) and the course on Nuclear Terrorism. The first of these was absolutely top notch whilst I felt the second was somewhat lacking but still interesting.

    The courses can be found at: https://online.stanford.edu/courses/allcourses

    At the moment there is quite a heavy emphasis on medical and business oriented studies but this varies through the year. I must admit I do fancy the one on Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers.

    MIT iirc has an extensive - and then some - collection of free to access science courses.

    Way back when, an admin error left me doing a job interview 'model lecture' on quite the wrong subject. They were a real help.
  • Ishmael_Z said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wrong, where do you think Dave developed the ”essay crisis” approach to life?
    jesus.

    and not the college.
  • MarkHopkinsMarkHopkins Posts: 5,584

    Skimming through the posts below about degrees and going back to education please can I recommend the free courses run by Stanford University in the US.

    These are effectively one part of a degree course as it is taught by the university staff but then put online for anyone to study for free. They generally last around 6-10 weeks, come with homework and recommendations for reading around the subject and those who complete the course and achieve the required mark in the homework get a certificate of achievement. This in itself is not the reason for doing the course but I would highly recommend the courses for anyone who enjoyed learning and would like to expand their knowledge.

    So far in the last year I have done the course on Reservoir Geomechanics (which has direct relevance to my work and provided an excellent theoretical background to the practical calculations I do) and the course on Nuclear Terrorism. The first of these was absolutely top notch whilst I felt the second was somewhat lacking but still interesting.

    The courses can be found at: https://online.stanford.edu/courses/allcourses

    At the moment there is quite a heavy emphasis on medical and business oriented studies but this varies through the year. I must admit I do fancy the one on Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers.


    You took a course on Nuclear Terrorism? Is it a honey-pot for potential terrorists?



  • BSc. (Hons.) and PhD (both in Biochemistry) from Imperial College :)

    Coruscant's finest university :lol:

    Southside Bar era or Eastside Bar era?
  • All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
  • Skimming through the posts below about degrees and going back to education please can I recommend the free courses run by Stanford University in the US.

    These are effectively one part of a degree course as it is taught by the university staff but then put online for anyone to study for free. They generally last around 6-10 weeks, come with homework and recommendations for reading around the subject and those who complete the course and achieve the required mark in the homework get a certificate of achievement. This in itself is not the reason for doing the course but I would highly recommend the courses for anyone who enjoyed learning and would like to expand their knowledge.

    So far in the last year I have done the course on Reservoir Geomechanics (which has direct relevance to my work and provided an excellent theoretical background to the practical calculations I do) and the course on Nuclear Terrorism. The first of these was absolutely top notch whilst I felt the second was somewhat lacking but still interesting.

    The courses can be found at: https://online.stanford.edu/courses/allcourses

    At the moment there is quite a heavy emphasis on medical and business oriented studies but this varies through the year. I must admit I do fancy the one on Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers.


    You took a course on Nuclear Terrorism? Is it a honey-pot for potential terrorists?

    It was certainly interesting. There were occasions where I was surprised by some of the stuff they said, particularly in terms of holes in security and how an attack on one port in the US - even if it failed - could basically shut down global trade for months.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
  • dixiedean said:

    I keep forgetting how 'young' he is - as a horse riding friend of mine observed 'riden hard and put up wet'
    Is this a good moment to point out Katie Hopkins is 42? A life of bile and fear does not do well for the countenance.
    I was surprised to see that Paul Golding, one of the Britain First gruesome twosome was only 35. Hard right, hard life.
  • TudorRoseTudorRose Posts: 1,662
    Heinz Wolff - a true academic who entertained but never dumbed down.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    felix said:



    You're speaking to the wrong Conservatives. The very hostility my posts have brought in from Lab and SNP posters suggests i'm in the right ballpark here.

    Applying the same logic that proved the SNP were terrified of Jim Murphy as leader I see.
  • IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
  • IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Has anyone on here tried out any of the iTuns U stuff? Some of it looks good and I think it's all free.

    PB threads are sometimes an education as well, at least when it isn't leavers v remainers counter posting tweets...
  • IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
  • YorkcityYorkcity Posts: 4,382

    Does anyone know why it's 3 times more expensive to do an Open University degree in England than in the rest of the UK?

    Because after tuition fees were introduced the OU found it was being used as an alternative to bricks and mortar universities by students. The courses were just as good but the costs were a fraction of the geographic universities. So the costs were increased dramatically to compensate for this. Thus spoiling it for all the real users who were looking to get back into education later in life.
    Thanks Richard , I was not aware of that . As you say shame if it stops people getting back into education later in life.For many me included it was a second chance and really helped my career.Even though it was difficult to work full time , bring up a family and study at the same time.
  • On PB.com, why does the quality of a poster's contributions always have an inverse relationship to the level of education the poster claims to have attained?

    I have no idea.
    (2:2 Computer Science, Reading, 1982.)
  • alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    How do student loans work for OU courses? Do they get written off at 50?
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    When you look back at the significant and lasting changes many past governments achieved in their terms, such as founding the NHS, the OU, the 1906 budget, the Beveridge reforms, or even some of Thatcher's less than welcome changes, it is hard not to look at the current batch of politicians fiddling around the edges of issues such as the housing crisis and wondering what happened to the bold reformers of times past?
  • IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    Not sure. I hadn't heard that bit if true then a good deed done.
  • IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    When you look back at the significant and lasting changes many past governments achieved in their terms, such as founding the NHS, the OU, the 1906 budget, the Beveridge reforms, or even some of Thatcher's less than welcome changes, it is hard not to look at the current batch of politicians fiddling around the edges of issues such as the housing crisis and wondering what happened to the bold reformers of times past?
    Agree entirely. And it is not as if there isnt a shortage of things that could benefit from radical overhaul.
  • rural_voterrural_voter Posts: 2,038

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.
  • IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.
    'Just' ?
  • Heartrending.

    twitter.com/JimMFelton/status/942002511690510336

    Jesus is he only 53. Perhaps the NHS could use him as a poster child for the effects of too much drinking and smoking.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080
    edited December 2017

    Skimming through the posts below about degrees and going back to education please can I recommend the free courses run by Stanford University in the US.

    These are effectively one part of a degree course as it is taught by the university staff but then put online for anyone to study for free. They generally last around 6-10 weeks, come with homework and recommendations for reading around the subject and those who complete the course and achieve the required mark in the homework get a certificate of achievement. This in itself is not the reason for doing the course but I would highly recommend the courses for anyone who enjoyed learning and would like to expand their knowledge.

    So far in the last year I have done the course on Reservoir Geomechanics (which has direct relevance to my work and provided an excellent theoretical background to the practical calculations I do) and the course on Nuclear Terrorism. The first of these was absolutely top notch whilst I felt the second was somewhat lacking but still interesting.

    The courses can be found at: https://online.stanford.edu/courses/allcourses

    At the moment there is quite a heavy emphasis on medical and business oriented studies but this varies through the year. I must admit I do fancy the one on Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers.


    You took a course on Nuclear Terrorism? Is it a honey-pot for potential terrorists?

    PB'ers should surely sign up en masse for the study course on the 2012 US election and "what it means for us, the state of California, the United States of America, and the globe" (except that it's finished, but the the materials are still available)?

    Personally, I fancy "Languages of the World".
  • YorkcityYorkcity Posts: 4,382

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/History-of-the-OU/?p=2588 Yes Thatcher decided to continue with Labours project.
  • IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Has anyone on here tried out any of the iTuns U stuff? Some of it looks good and I think it's all free.

    PB threads are sometimes an education as well, at least when it isn't leavers v remainers counter posting tweets...
    Not tried them yet although I plan on taking a look. Apart from the occasional online course I am still fairly old fashioned in my learning. I try to read at least 100 books a year with a rough split between fiction and non fiction. Outside of human interactions I have still never found a greater joy than opening a new book snd starting to read.
  • Self awareness not a strong suit.....

    My contempt for career politicians knows no bounds......says Farage, who ....became an MEP in 1999.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5184815/Nigel-Farage-reveals-price-paid-Brexit.html

    Seven Westminster and five European elections fought by this contemptible career politician.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.
    'Just' ?
    As in 'just' get on with Brexit?

  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Has anyone on here tried out any of the iTuns U stuff? Some of it looks good and I think it's all free.

    PB threads are sometimes an education as well, at least when it isn't leavers v remainers counter posting tweets...
    Not tried them yet although I plan on taking a look. Apart from the occasional online course I am still fairly old fashioned in my learning. I try to read at least 100 books a year with a rough split between fiction and non fiction. Outside of human interactions I have still never found a greater joy than opening a new book snd starting to read.
    Shelf space is the problem (although not one shared with the millennial generation), unless you are prepared to ditch them once read. Despite Google being the go-to of choice, I find it hard to dispose of books that were a good read the first time.
  • Despite all the technological advances, reading iPad or better a kindle is still not a superior experience to paper. I can read casually on a kindle, but for serious stuff it has to be printed out.
  • YorkcityYorkcity Posts: 4,382

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.
    I think He Wilson deserves more credit than just.As Richard said previously two of his greatest achievements were the OU and keeping Britain out of the Vietnam war.
  • Sad news in Nottinghamshire: I am sure Dr 'Sven' Palmer can help fund this lady's needs. Here is hoping!
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.
    Much credit for the OU belongs I believe to Jennie Lee, who, besides being a big political figue in her own right, was also Nye Bevan’s widow.
  • IanB2 said:


    Shelf space is the problem (although not one shared with the millennial generation), unless you are prepared to ditch them once read. Despite Google being the go-to of choice, I find it hard to dispose of books that were a good read the first time.

    I can't ditch books. When my wife 'persuaded' me that a life of servitude and toil was a price worth paying for our very old and very expensive house, the one thing I insisted on was that, if I were going to work until I am 100 then I wanted one room assigned as a library. It is already full and shelves are appearing all over the house to cope with the continual influx of books and journals.
  • PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

  • IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    Not sure. I hadn't heard that bit if true then a good deed done.
    I've read here that it was a choice of shutting down the OU or ending free milk for middle school pupils.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761

    PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    Physical books every time. A hard back book is one of life’s luxuries.
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 7,979
    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    I'm doing a free course on autism on FutureLearn at the moment. It is very revealing and gives advice on how to interact with people on the spectrum who lack self awareness and have narrow obsessions.
  • PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    Physical-books have a chance of survival if they fall in the bath: E-Books rely on being 'dry' and the MTBF life-expectancy.
  • Skimming through the posts below about degrees and going back to education please can I recommend the free courses run by Stanford University in the US.

    These are effectively one part of a degree course as it is taught by the university staff but then put online for anyone to study for free. They generally last around 6-10 weeks, come with homework and recommendations for reading around the subject and those who complete the course and achieve the required mark in the homework get a certificate of achievement. This in itself is not the reason for doing the course but I would highly recommend the courses for anyone who enjoyed learning and would like to expand their knowledge.

    So far in the last year I have done the course on Reservoir Geomechanics (which has direct relevance to my work and provided an excellent theoretical background to the practical calculations I do) and the course on Nuclear Terrorism. The first of these was absolutely top notch whilst I felt the second was somewhat lacking but still interesting.

    The courses can be found at: https://online.stanford.edu/courses/allcourses

    At the moment there is quite a heavy emphasis on medical and business oriented studies but this varies through the year. I must admit I do fancy the one on Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers.

    Yes, that is perhaps something for my retirement, to keep the grey cells from atrophying. I have a BSc and PhD in physics and once felt that I half-understood quantum mechanics. However, I've not worked in the area since my university days and have now forgotten all but the basic concepts :-(
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 7,979
    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    Has anyone on here tried out any of the iTuns U stuff? Some of it looks good and I think it's all free.

    PB threads are sometimes an education as well, at least when it isn't leavers v remainers counter posting tweets...
    Not tried them yet although I plan on taking a look. Apart from the occasional online course I am still fairly old fashioned in my learning. I try to read at least 100 books a year with a rough split between fiction and non fiction. Outside of human interactions I have still never found a greater joy than opening a new book snd starting to read.
    Shelf space is the problem (although not one shared with the millennial generation), unless you are prepared to ditch them once read. Despite Google being the go-to of choice, I find it hard to dispose of books that were a good read the first time.
    I've been downsizing and having big bonfires of books that are of no real value. Some people react very emotionally to burning books. They think it is much worse than roasting lamb. Curious.
  • rural_voterrural_voter Posts: 2,038
    [text deleted]

    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.

    ____

    'Just' ?

    ____

    Well, Macmillan or by that time Hume commissioned it and had accepted the findings by 1963, i.e. with no major disagreement between the parties. Imagine Thatcher's reaction to

    '... the promotion of the general powers of the mind so as to produce not mere specialists but rather cultivated men and women; to maintain research in balance with teaching, since teaching should not be separated from the advancement of learning and the search for truth; and to transmit a common culture and common standards of citizenship ...'

    She'd have demanded to know how much more money a graduate would earn. 'If so, our policy has to be, why can he not [usually he] borrow it and finance it him/herself and as regards this poppycock about "learning for its own sake", the crucial point to me as Prime Minister has to be "what does the market think of it?" '

    In other words, much like the bone-headed sentiments we hear today. They fail to value learning as a public good. They make it much more difficult for someone from a low-paid background to gain access to a redbrick university and then Cambridge than it was for me.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,563
    justin124 said:

    People such as David Dimbleby, Jeremy Thorpe , Barbara Castle and Edward Boyle ended up with Third class degrees from Oxford. Very rare indeed nowadays. David Steel and Kinnock did no better at their universities.

    I think more students drop out before completing these days ?
    The toleration of academic idleness started to disappear back in the early 80s, I think (that was at least my experience....).
  • DavidL said:

    PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    Physical books every time. A hard back book is one of life’s luxuries.
    I went through a phase in of preferring e-books some months ago (partly because they arrive instantly and I lack patience - it’s a really awful flaw). But I’ve now returned to opting for physical books, although I have to say I like paperbacks a bit more than hard backs.

    @Rebourne_Fluffy I think if an smartphone or tablet falls into bath you’ve got bigger problems than no longer being able to access the e-book! Although I think you can access e-books via your laptop, though it’s not an ideal way of reading IMHO....
  • She'd have demanded to know how much more money a graduate would earn. 'If so, our policy has to be, why can he not [usually he] borrow it and finance it him/herself and as regards this poppycock about "learning for its own sake", the crucial point to me as Prime Minister has to be "what does the market think of it?" '

    What evidence do you have of that?

    Considering that as already discussed she kept the Open University open and free when at the time it was being considered for closure - and she never introduced fees, that only came about after Labour introduced them - so what evidence do you have for your claim.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    There are also MOOC’s ..... Massive On-line Open Courses. Described on mooc.org as free online courses available for anyone to enroll. MOOCs provide an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills, advance your career and deliver quality educational experiences at scale.

    I’m also following a series of lectures on the evolution of man on the vU3a . Takes one from the intital development of the Homo genus right through the diaspora to the development of agriculture and modern society.
  • PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    Physical-books have a chance of survival if they fall in the bath: E-Books rely on being 'dry' and the MTBF life-expectancy.
    Actually its the other way around. Since data can be transferred from one tablet to another and can be backed up to an account etc - if a tablet breaks then you can get another and you keep your library of books.
  • ...

    @Rebourne_Fluffy I think if an smartphone or tablet falls into bath you’ve got bigger problems than no longer being able to access the e-book! Although I think you can access e-books via your laptop, though it’s not an ideal way of reading IMHO....

    This was done over 18-months ago: No electrical-charge will kill you if the transformer is not connected to the device. Mr Sandpit may have mentioned it. Here is the [historical] link:

    https://www.cnet.com/news/man-dies-after-charging-iphone-in-bath-electrocution/

    Laptops are the same.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080
    edited December 2017

    PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    Physical-books have a chance of survival if they fall in the bath: E-Books rely on being 'dry' and the MTBF life-expectancy.
    Actually its the other way around. Since data can be transferred from one tablet to another and can be backed up to an account etc - if a tablet breaks then you can get another and you keep your library of books.
    The iPad bathtub holder I bought works fine, and I regularly enjoy a hot bath whilst catching up on movies or posting to PB...

    Before I got the holder i had a waterproof bag that contained the iPad, through which it was just about possible to use the screen. But sealing up the iPad was a hassle and a bathtub holder is so much easier. Mine also has a slot to hold a glass of wine and a sunken circle for a cup of tea or bottle of water (see Amazon for details). What more does anyone need?

    With an iPad you can at least put your hands in the water now and again. With a book this is fatal.
  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    edited December 2017
    Some Labour parliamentary selections taking place today


    Gloucester: Fran Boiat selected

    Thurrock:Cllr John Kent selected

    Noriwich North: Cllr Karen Davis selected
  • DavidL said:

    PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    Physical books every time. A hard back book is one of life’s luxuries.
    I went through a phase in of preferring e-books some months ago (partly because they arrive instantly and I lack patience - it’s a really awful flaw). But I’ve now returned to opting for physical books, although I have to say I like paperbacks a bit more than hard backs.

    @Rebourne_Fluffy I think if an smartphone or tablet falls into bath you’ve got bigger problems than no longer being able to access the e-book! Although I think you can access e-books via your laptop, though it’s not an ideal way of reading IMHO....
    The new but expensive Kindle is waterproof so you can read it safely in the bath.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    An article on Thatcher & the OU can be found at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/History-of-the-OU/?p=2588
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761
    Barnesian said:

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    I'm doing a free course on autism on FutureLearn at the moment. It is very revealing and gives advice on how to interact with people on the spectrum who lack self awareness and have narrow obsessions.
    Is contributing to PB an official part of the course or it just a useful adjunct?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766




    No, I doubt because I know trade deals take a long time to do and no sane country would agree anything with the UK until they are completely clear on what the UK’s final relationship with the EU will be: how far our laws & regulations will be aligned, the level of access UK-based businesses will have to the single market, and so on. The attractiveness of the UK as a free trade partner and the kind of concessions that both sides would make to get a deal will be dependent on how Brexit turns out. There is also the issue of bandwidth - you can’t just whistle up trade negotiators. If ours are working on a complex disengagement from the EU, they will not be working on other stuff.

    So the logic of your position is that the UK should leave now on WTO terms and come back and negotiate a trade agreement with the EU later. In the meantime we can focus our limited resources on other trade deals and, of course, save the 45 bn that we are handing to the EU in exchange for nothing. That would provide far more certainty to our trading partners and business than living in transition purgatory for an indeterminate amount of time whilst the EU screw us around. Sound right?
    We're not paying £45bn for nothing. We are paying £10bn a year for a two year transition, and then something like £20-25bn over the next two decades.

    If we want a transition we're going to have to pay for it. And it is us asking for the transition. Now you can argue that two years is too long, and it should be 18 months or a year, but I would remember that there was seven year transition period from Commonwealth preferred trade to EEC.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766
    DavidL said:

    Barnesian said:

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    I'm doing a free course on autism on FutureLearn at the moment. It is very revealing and gives advice on how to interact with people on the spectrum who lack self awareness and have narrow obsessions.
    Is contributing to PB an official part of the course or it just a useful adjunct?
    Damn it. I was going to make that joke, but you did it first and did it better.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    On PB.com, why does the quality of a poster's contributions always have an inverse relationship to the level of education the poster claims to have attained?

    Crashed out in the first year, University of Life
  • @Rebourne_Fluffy and @DecrepitJohnL thanks for the info, I wonder if any of apple’s products are waterproof. It’d be good to have a waterproof iphone!

  • Highly recommend it - I did my first degree as a process of elimination at the top of an academic escalator I'd been on since age 5.

    My second degree, many years later was a conscious choice - and I'd recommend the OU very highly - for the first time in my academic career I was actually taught how to write essays....

    Same applies to me. I now have an Oxford Third (still easy to gain in maths in the nineties) and combined qualifying for the PPE First posting threshold suggested in this thread with being taught how to write essays at the OU. Then I had to bag a Masters to land a job: perhaps a further result of the grade inflation which helped me to attain a First.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614

    ...

    @Rebourne_Fluffy I think if an smartphone or tablet falls into bath you’ve got bigger problems than no longer being able to access the e-book! Although I think you can access e-books via your laptop, though it’s not an ideal way of reading IMHO....

    This was done over 18-months ago: No electrical-charge will kill you if the transformer is not connected to the device. Mr Sandpit may have mentioned it. Here is the [historical] link:

    https://www.cnet.com/news/man-dies-after-charging-iphone-in-bath-electrocution/

    Laptops are the same.
    Wasn’t me, but anyone who puts anything electrical in the bath is a pretty good candidate for a Darwin award.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 47,786
    edited December 2017
    An interesting theory:

    Ladybird Libertarians: Dan Hannan, Paddington and the pernicious impact of 1970s children’s literature on Brexit thinking

    https://thepinprick.com/2017/12/15/ladybird-libertarians-dan-hannan-paddington-and-the-pernicious-impact-of-1960s-british-propaganda-on-the-brexit-thinkers/
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    I'm a Kindle kind of guy. I like being able to read in bed without turning the light on (it's a Kindle Voyage). I like being able to easily swap books. I like being able to carry old favourites (like Douglas Adams or Christopher Brookmyre) with me always. And I like the fact that - for fat history books - it's eminently carryable.
  • PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    I have bought e-versions of favourite books that I have physical copies of. I bought a physical copy of Shelby Foote’s history of the American civil war to read while recuperating from one operation and ended up getting the kindle version because the books were too big the read comfortably.
    I tend to buy novels electronically though, often because I’m too impatient to wait until I can get to a bookshop.
  • rural_voterrural_voter Posts: 2,038

    She'd have demanded to know how much more money a graduate would earn. 'If so, our policy has to be, why can he not [usually he] borrow it and finance it him/herself and as regards this poppycock about "learning for its own sake", the crucial point to me as Prime Minister has to be "what does the market think of it?" '

    What evidence do you have of that?

    Considering that as already discussed she kept the Open University open and free when at the time it was being considered for closure - and she never introduced fees, that only came about after Labour introduced them - so what evidence do you have for your claim.
    I'm commenting on what her typical reaction would have been to the Robbins report, given her policies during her term of office 1979-90 and especially once her majority reached 100+which meant under our system the only official opposition became the House of Lords. The article already cited on the OU contains the quote

    '... The cuts in 1981 were a disaster for British higher education – some of worst things that have ever happened to higher education ...’
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    Physical-books have a chance of survival if they fall in the bath: E-Books rely on being 'dry' and the MTBF life-expectancy.
    True.

    But so long as Amazon (the company) lives, then you just need to refresh your Kindle once every four or five years and you keep your entire library. Physical books decay over time. (Even if they're not dropped in the bath.)
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941

    She'd have demanded to know how much more money a graduate would earn. 'If so, our policy has to be, why can he not [usually he] borrow it and finance it him/herself and as regards this poppycock about "learning for its own sake", the crucial point to me as Prime Minister has to be "what does the market think of it?" '

    What evidence do you have of that?

    Considering that as already discussed she kept the Open University open and free when at the time it was being considered for closure - and she never introduced fees, that only came about after Labour introduced them - so what evidence do you have for your claim.
    I'm commenting on what her typical reaction would have been to the Robbins report, given her policies during her term of office 1979-90 and especially once her majority reached 100+which meant under our system the only official opposition became the House of Lords. The article already cited on the OU contains the quote

    '... The cuts in 1981 were a disaster for British higher education – some of worst things that have ever happened to higher education ...’
    What was this disaster in 1981? Can't have been all that bad. :smiley:
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715

    An interesting theory:

    Ladybird Libertarians: Dan Hannan, Paddington and the pernicious impact of 1970s children’s literature on Brexit thinking

    https://thepinprick.com/2017/12/15/ladybird-libertarians-dan-hannan-paddington-and-the-pernicious-impact-of-1960s-british-propaganda-on-the-brexit-thinkers/

    LIKE.
  • @Rebourne_Fluffy and @DecrepitJohnL thanks for the info, I wonder if any of apple’s products are waterproof. It’d be good to have a waterproof iphone!

    I think the latest ones are: it’s one of the reasons they ditched the ‘phone-jack, which in turn is the reason I still have an iPhone 6.
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    You should go to Oxford or Cambridge then. Apparently they only 'read' their subjects there, so I assume that no essay writing is involved.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.
    I believe that students attending university during the 1950s were state funded too.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,765

    An interesting theory:

    Ladybird Libertarians: Dan Hannan, Paddington and the pernicious impact of 1970s children’s literature on Brexit thinking

    https://thepinprick.com/2017/12/15/ladybird-libertarians-dan-hannan-paddington-and-the-pernicious-impact-of-1960s-british-propaganda-on-the-brexit-thinkers/

    Self-respect is preferable to self-loathing.
  • PB readers: do you prefer physical copies of books or e-books? The latter solves the problem of shelf space.

    physical library books. let the rich pay for my shelf space!
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    @Rebourne_Fluffy and @DecrepitJohnL thanks for the info, I wonder if any of apple’s products are waterproof. It’d be good to have a waterproof iphone!

    I think all the iPhones since the 7 have been waterproof.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715
    justin124 said:

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    The Open University is brilliant for learning; the quality of their materials is outstanding and compensates for the relative lack of face to face. Whether you work towards a qualification or just do the courses you fancy is up to you. As with any course there is of course written assignments, but how seriously you take them is up to you. And sadly of course tuition fees have pushed up the cost.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.
    I believe that students attending university during the 1950s were state funded too.
    Grants were certainly available in the 50’s. I think they were a result of the 1944 Butler Act. Tuition fees were paid, but living expenses were means tested. They were also available for fvull time non degree courses, such as professional exams.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941
    rcs1000 said:

    @Rebourne_Fluffy and @DecrepitJohnL thanks for the info, I wonder if any of apple’s products are waterproof. It’d be good to have a waterproof iphone!

    I think all the iPhones since the 7 have been waterproof.
    Waterproof, or water resistant?
  • Good afternoon, my fellow mammals.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941

    Good afternoon, my fellow mammals.

    Did you just assume my species?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,761
    Sean_F said:

    An interesting theory:

    Ladybird Libertarians: Dan Hannan, Paddington and the pernicious impact of 1970s children’s literature on Brexit thinking

    https://thepinprick.com/2017/12/15/ladybird-libertarians-dan-hannan-paddington-and-the-pernicious-impact-of-1960s-british-propaganda-on-the-brexit-thinkers/

    Self-respect is preferable to self-loathing.
    Quite. Anyone who thinks that it amusing that his own country is “ a bit shit” really has better things to do with their time than childish cod psychology of Mr Hannan.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766
    RobD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    @Rebourne_Fluffy and @DecrepitJohnL thanks for the info, I wonder if any of apple’s products are waterproof. It’d be good to have a waterproof iphone!

    I think all the iPhones since the 7 have been waterproof.
    Waterproof, or water resistant?
    The iPhone 7, 8 and X are IP67: so 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter. You shouldn't worry too much about the bath, but you can't use it as an underwater camera for scuba diving.

  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    I am happy to be corrected on this, but I do get the impression that prior to World War 2 the obtaining of a 'place' at Oxbridge - as distinct from a Scholarship or Exhibition - did not require an applicant to excel academically to anything like the extent that has been required in recent decades.In that era Oxbridge appears to have been very largely a finishing school for public schoolboys - with the exception of the Scholars and Exhibitioners who often came from the grammar schools.
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527

    justin124 said:

    IanB2 said:

    All this talk of who got what degree. Surely only those with a First in PPE should be allowed to post on PB?

    Not a real degree according to the Cameron haters.

    Only legal, history, science, or engineering degrees count as proper degrees
    Not Greats?

    And why should vocational courses like law be taught in proper universities?
    I consider Literae Humaniores a history degree.
    Fair enough.
    It was a degree I seriously considered reading, but declined.
    If I had the time and resources to go back and do another degree, I'd do History. Preferably somewhere that didn't require me to write essays.
    Wasn't my experience of friends reading history tbh.
    Actually, what I want at this stage in my life is to learn about a subject, not to end up with a bit of paper saying I have.
    Often mentioned here but still worth repeating. The two great achievements of Wilson. Keeping us out of the Vietnam War and founding the OU.
    Didn't Thatcher save it at one point?
    One other great achievement of the Macmillan and Wilson governments: free university education and an expansion in the number of places
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_Report

    I benefited from this policy in the early 1970s. I hadn't realised until recently that the Robbins report predated Wilson's 1964 victory. He just implemented it.
    I believe that students attending university during the 1950s were state funded too.
    Grants were certainly available in the 50’s. I think they were a result of the 1944 Butler Act. Tuition fees were paid, but living expenses were means tested. They were also available for fvull time non degree courses, such as professional exams.
    That is what I thought - in other words much the same as the 60s and 70s.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,765
    DavidL said:

    Sean_F said:

    An interesting theory:

    Ladybird Libertarians: Dan Hannan, Paddington and the pernicious impact of 1970s children’s literature on Brexit thinking

    https://thepinprick.com/2017/12/15/ladybird-libertarians-dan-hannan-paddington-and-the-pernicious-impact-of-1960s-british-propaganda-on-the-brexit-thinkers/

    Self-respect is preferable to self-loathing.
    Quite. Anyone who thinks that it amusing that his own country is “ a bit shit” really has better things to do with their time than childish cod psychology of Mr Hannan.
    There was another bit of cod psychology which blamed Brexit on Enid Blyton.

    At each extreme, there will be people who voted for Brexit due to a highly romanticised view of their own country, and people who voted Remain because they see no good in their own country, but the former is still better than the latter.
This discussion has been closed.