PM Board, Buckingham
Stories this week suggest that computer glitches have resulted in serious chaos within the university admissions system this summer. One university admissions tutor has described the situation as “a complete nightmare”. Ucas, however, denies that there is any problem at all. The truth will no doubt emerge over the next week.
Edexcel tells me on your particular query that the problem lies with your son’s girlfriend’s exam centre which, it says, made an administrative error. Now that that has been sorted out they will send the grade immediately.
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Why it took the intervention of The Sunday Times to achieve this result I have no idea.
My 15-year-old son wants to be a diplomat. I believe the traditional route is an Oxbridge arts degree.
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He’s a bright boy and Oxbridge is a possibility. Bearing in mind that most people who apply don’t get in, are there any other universities that have a tradition of producing future diplomats? I wondered about Edinburgh as the leading Scottish university. Also, is there any A-level subject preference and degree choice that would better enable him to have a diplomatic career. Thank you.
JC, by e-mail
That last bastion of aristocratic elitism, the Foreign Office, if you believe its publicity, is seeking to attract candidates from all social backgrounds.
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I am sure that an arts degree from Oxbridge would still cut more ice than a two-year vocational qualification from the University of East London. But a university with the social cachet of Edinburgh would be fine!
My dismissive comments about A-levels which included the word “studies” in their title inspired a number of students and, I suspect, teachers to write in similar, if less pungent, vein.
Generally, I remain unrepentant, but I must apologise to Fiona Barker, the head of religious studies at the Judd school in Tonbridge, Kent. Religious studies is, I agree, an intellectually demanding course.
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If you have a question for Chris Woodhead, write to him c/o The Sunday Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1ST or e-mail him, with your name and address, at education-questions@sunday-times.co.uk