I'm sorry, Diane, that you see the use of the word 'youngsters' as being 'extraordinarily patronising'! To me at nearly 60, they are 'youngsters', whether they're in their teens, twenties or even thirties: they are of a generation at least one later than me. I do not believe stating that to be patronising. And, yes, I do recognise that there are mature students on the course, although I haven't yet met any of them. Nor did I 'concede one or two a few grudging words of stinted approval' - or at least that was not my intention. Why do you always seem to read the worst into what people say rather than the best? I find that sad.

Barbara