"One of my 'performance indicators' is retention rate."

Amen, brother. When I was teaching at university level a few years ago, the paradox was that the 50% targets mean that many "new" universities will take just about anyone at clearing, including people who haven't even done A Levels - and when these young people cannot then cope with the academic environment (because they don't even know how to write an essay, for example, and don't have particularly advanced literacy skills), the priority is to do whatever you can to retain them when some of them probably shouldn't even be there in the first place. I personally found it soul-destroying. Oh, and just try failing anyone...

*climbs down from hobby horse*

Re the Newcastle degree: I have heard mixed responses from several former students and graduates. To be honest, the only way to respond to the question would be to be able to include their views and opinions. It would also be interesting to know why most people who do the degree are doing it. Do they see it as a stepping-stone into a career, as many other students do these days, or is it about study for its own sake?

When most people discuss the folk degree they immediately think of all the bright young things who perform at festivals, but I understand that there is a range of ages and experience on the degree - I'd love to hear what some of the mature students make of it. When I was teaching, it was the mature students who were the most interestng and rewarding to teach.


Yours sincerely,

One of the Most Opinionated Women on Mudcat