First of all - this topic is getting very long ain't it?
I can't play AH anymore because my brother has taken his computer back to uni.
Probably a good thing - I was playing it too much anyway. So I'm using an old laptop with a really, really crappy modem - these long topics just take ages to load up. I think that after 60 posts to a topic, I'll stop adding to it to save me the loading time.
Right, first things first. AK - I've got no idea how much a packet of studmuffins costs (using the British definition of 'studmuffin' here, before you ask
). I started smoking at 13 and finished at 15, none too impressed with it. Filthy habit. Besides, by then I had discovered alcohol.
As for income tax vs fuel tax. My point was that income tax at least takes into account circumstance, whereas fuel tax is indescriminate; a community nurse with a Mini pays the same as an industry fat cat and his huge Jaguar. Also, I've started to change my mind about fuel tax in this country, after looking at how things are done on the continent - I don't really want ot go into it here, this topic is long enough as it is!
"Are you saying all your Universities are as good as Oxford or Cambridge? Thus ALL your potential students have a "right" to a free education of Oxford or Cambridge quality?"
Not in the slightest. What I am saying is that they have the right to an education at Oxbridge, if they meet the criteria of entry, regardless of background. In terms of the small amount of tuition you pay for, this is the same regardless of which university you study at; this is true even though the cost to the government of studying at Cambridge is higher than, say, Oxford Brookes (a poor university that is not part of Oxford University itself).
As for the quality of UK universities - some are generally better than others. But some departments within a particular institution are also better than others - for instance the Physics Department at the University of Durham, where I studied, got the highest possible rating in a recent assessment. In fact, on a par with Oxbridge (if not better, I can't remember exactly).
Mav - I took it you meant that people qualify regardless of how well they do at a particular course. I see what you mean now - I thought it sounded a bit unfair to give the 'slackers' the same qualification as the hard-working pupils!
