Sir, Having just completed an honours history degree course at Durham I can vouch for the fact that its content varied little from that of 50 years ago, as described by Mr Raymond Clayton (letter, August 1).
But consider how much more today’s history student has to do in order to stand out in the employment market. Time at university can no longer be spent merely on a degree course; students must take part in a plethora of activities to be even considered by employers. All this they have to do with little or no money. Half a century ago, degrees were sparse enough more or less to ensure employment. As well as this, when we reach the end of our studies, we have to deal with implications that our degree has not been difficult enough.
Rather than ask if today’s students would cope with courses 50 years ago, I suggest that those graduates of the late 1940s should wonder if they would be able to balance the tensions of university life today.
Yours faithfully,
HANNAH KNIGHT,
64 Selwyn Road, Birmingham B16 0SW.
August 1.