Saturday 20 March 2010

Scoffing at a Scots-only university

You've heard of Little Englanders? Well, Little Scotlandism appears to be taking off at the northern end of this United Kingdom.
So much so that the academically distinguished Edinburgh University has now introduced a policy of discriminating against English applicants by actively favouring Scottish students over anyone else.
A University spokesman is quoted in The Guardian saying this is because the university wants to encourage local people to study at their local university.
Hmm, I think he does protest not very well.
That might wash if the university had introduced a policy for residents of the city, or even at a push Lothian residents. But for the policy to extend to the whole of Scotland which is obviously no more local to Edinburgh than, say, London is to Oxford is a world of weirdness away, and quite obviously a sign of an out of control Little Scotlander complex.
How would it be if Oxford University said it was going to give additional weighting to English applicants? I suggest outcries from Scots, and quite right too.
For a top-ranking university to start discriminating against people because of where they come from, seems frankly ridiculous.
Good to hear Glasgow University saying it treats applicants equally whereever they may hail from.

8 comments:

Roger Thornhill said...

IF Edinburgh wants to do it, then fine, but then it should not expect to get a penny piece from the State.

It will be Edinburgh's loss, for it will suffer by not gaining the best applicants, some of whom would be denied access and replaced by less able locals.

I suspect it does not mean they will reject Foreign students, for is their form of localism easily bought for a few pieces of silver?

Robert said...

Then give Scotland it's right allow it to go independent.

the problem with that crap above is the simple who the F*ck asked you to invade and take the country in the first place, little England phobia.

Run your own country and leave the rest of us to get on, and you can keep brown.

Anonymous said...

Although, certain 'elite' universities seem to strongly favour overseas students (mostly American), especially on postgraduate courses, no doubt because they are far more lucrative than home-based students (highly ironic, considering the recent funding outcry - more money from the taxpayer for the best tutors to tutor the wealthier overseas students). It is all a bit silly of course, and an example of the usual jingoism that is a norm north of the border - but there is an issue to address here.

Frugal Dougal said...

As a Scot living in England, I think the sooner Scotland goes its own way on its own can (ie paying for itself), the better.

Unknown said...

I am half Scottish half English and have lived half my life on either side of the border.

The SNP policy of blackmailing a minority government into spending even more on the Scottish non productive public sector while money is cut elsewhere is a disgrace.

I was once ashamed that as a youngster I voted for them. Now I would vote for them again let them get independance then move to England for good.

Some economic reality is needed.

Unknown said...

Did University of Edinburgh actually say they were going to favour Scottish students? Or is this just a knee-jerk reaction to a misleading headline?

From the University of Edinburgh website, stating their policies for Humanities and Social Sciences, among a variety of other criteria:
"08 Additional credit is given to students who:
...
* Apply from schools in the local area (defined as City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, Scottish Borders, Fife, Falkirk and district, Clackmannanshire) and applicants from schools in the wider locality (defined as the rest of Scotland, Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham, Teeside, Tyne and Wear).
..."

So they are not
"actively favouring Scottish students over anyone else."
(1) that policy does not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of nationality - it is based explicitly on the location of the school the applicant attended
(2)it does not favour applicants from Scottish schools over any other country. It defines two geographic zones: the first is the south eastern quarter of Scotland (which excludes more than half the schools in Scotland), while the second includes the rest of Scotland and 5 English regions.

xxx said...

What Ken said is absolutely correct. Students from Newcastle and Carlisle have the same priority students from Glasgow and Aberdeen.

The context is that Edinburgh University is a hugely popular University with English students and is often third choice after Oxford and Cambridge. I was an undergraduate student there in the 1970s and around 40% of students were English then. There are still around 40% of students who are English today. All the university is trying to do is strike a balance between the huge demand from the south of England and providing a service to the local community.

voiceofourown said...

I'm glad the last 2 commenters have put things right. Any more ill-informed rants from 'Little Britishers'?