With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

University introduces four-year degrees for weak students

A leading university has been forced to extend degree courses by 12 months because students are poorly educated.

Imperial College London has added a year to engineering degrees to teach the basic skills that students failed to learn at school and college.

Most of the first year is now spent going over remedial mathematics and science.

An admissions tutor at Imperial - ranked the world's fifth best university last year - said many "spoon-fed" students left sixth-form with a string of good A-levels, even though knowledge of core subjects was weak.

David Robb, senior lecturer in mechanical engineering, insisted A-levels were no longer rigorous enough to pick out the best students.

But in a blow to the Government, he also warned Imperial was not planning to offer places to teenagers who took new-style diploma qualifications, which will combine academic study with work-based training.

He said the university was "much more on the academic end and we would not consider that as a reasonable route into our courses".

The comments - in evidence to MPs on the Commons schools select committee - comes just days after Imperial confirmed it was introducing its own entrance test to identify the brightest applicants.

Mr Robb said four out of his top five students last year came from Singapore, where they were more likely to study further maths to a high standard.

He said: "We have actually had to extend most of our courses from three years to four years. Some of the first year is actually bringing them up to the level they should have been and hopefully also making them aware of their ability to survive outside of a school environment where they are spoon fed.

"Most science and engineering courses are going to four years if they haven't already done so."

Mr Robb was giving evidence to a select committee investigation on the state of the National Curriculum.

There are fears that the existing curriculum is no longer fit for purpose. Critics claim the pressure of targets and league tables prompts many schools to "teach to the test" - meaning pupils miss out on key subject knowledge.

Mr Robb said: "I have just spent two days marking examination papers and about 15 students had forgotten what the area of a circle was. We need students coming into our university who are really confident with their basic mathematical and physical principles."

He added: "Engineers have got to get things right. You can't say, 'this looks about right'. You have got to believe in those calculations. There are, bluntly, people's lives at stake. If you get the calculations wrong, engineers can kill."

He said the decline in standard of A-level standards had come despite a rise in the number of students gaining good grades.

In the mid-80s, B grades were considered a "standard entry requirement" to Imperial, he said.

But last year the university demanded straight As and was "totally oversubscribed".

"The A-level assessment at the moment is not providing the filter that we require," he said.

Ministers have already announced the introduction of an A* grade to pick out the brightest students. The best sixth-formers starting courses in September will be awarded the new elite grades.

But Mr Rob said: "When is the A** going to come in? If you look at the trend in A-grades it's going up every year. A-levels were originally designed as an entrance to university and it has now been distorted to a general education qualification.

"I'm not criticising but the knock-on effect is people have failed to realise we need it as a ranking mechanism and this last two years we have run into trouble on that."
Read entire article at Telegraph