MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Seems they want to rate an A-level in a 'hard' subject like maths or physics higher than a 'soft' subject like media studies.
An interesting approach given they launched a review into the creative industries a few weeks ago because they see them as central to the UK future economic growth.
According to the Tories, "hard" subjects seem to be those where there are right and wrong answers: 2+2=? only one possible answer there. Chemical formula of water? Not a lot of room for debate there.
David Cameron's degree is in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and, as we all know, these disciplines are renowned for giving us very simple, correct answers to complex problems.
Don't get me started on the Tories and their education policies
Seems they want to rate an A-level in a 'hard' subject like maths or physics higher than a 'soft' subject like media studies.
Haven't university admissions tutors and employers already been doing that ever since all the mickey-mouse subjects came along?
The Universities recognise our exam boards e.g. Oxford A'level Chemistry exam board back in 1995 was much harder than London or Cambridge of '95
while the London and Cambride would wipe the floor.
An interesting approach given they launched a review into the creative industries a few weeks ago because they see them as central to the UK future economic growth.
politicians just spout whatever crap they dream up & wait for the public reaction
since all the mickey-mouse subjects came along
The first university undergraduate courses were: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, and rhetoric
Since then, people like you have been bleating about every advance in university teaching: are physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, law, architecture, engineering, higher mathematics, history, geography, economics, politics, English language, French, German etc etc mickey-mouse subjects?
They were, of course, spectacularly wrong
I'm pretty certain that dance therapy with hotel management, won't be added to that list.
If it is, then we're all doomed.
As long as make it more afordable for people to do an apprenticeship, instead of forcing them into university 🙂
Haven't university admissions tutors and employers already been doing that ever since all the mickey-mouse subjects came along?
'Mickey-Mouse subject' - like teaching Disneyfication as part of a module on globalisation? 😀
Admissions tutors don't just discriminate against so-called mickey-mouse subjects. If you've got an A-level a 'hard' subject completely irrelevant to your chosen degree that will be taken into account. That said, degrees are so different to A-levels it is more important to have gained the rights skills rather than subject-specific knowledge (at least for the degrees i teach on - geography and environment stuff). This is partly because the subject specific content at A-level is out of date. Personally i think it should be left up to universities to decide what they want from A-level students not a Tory government telling us what is good for us.
Thinking about it, media studies comes in for a lot of criticism, but it would be very useful for some modules where i work because podcasting, mulitmedia presentations and posters form part of the assessments.
Surf science anyone? Underwater basket weaving? 😀
Fortunately degree entry requirements are still subject based, they've always required good grades in the technical subjects to get onto technical courses. Unfortunately, from what I see, they appear to have cut huge swathes of content from the A-level courses, and in turn the unis have to either offer a matching year or lower their course content to match. This does no-one any good except the politicians claiming more A-level and degree passes.
iirc you need at least one science a-level to of surf science because it includes sports science, oceanography and design/engineering.