In article .com,
writes
Which of the universities in London were your friends at?

Bedford College is one I remember - that's part of the traditional
"London" University. Appears to have merged with Royal Holloway in the
mean time, and relocated out into the sticks.

So in short... I take offence to you suggesting that students "at
London" skip lectures and don't work hard

No need to take offence. My impression was that courses were completed
on a "points" basis. From what I recall it was common to almost get
enough points for a degree after two years, so the third year was plain
sailing and no need to go to every single lecture.
--
"now, the thing you type on and the window you stare out of are the same thing"

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 07:53:27 +0000, Clive D. W. Feather wrote:

In article , Meldrew
of Meldreth writes
I think I paid about 300 quid a term for the room, meals (and the
cleaning thrown in). Or maybe it was 300 quid a year. I'd have a hard
time finding the receipts at the moment.

Vague memory says I paid 80 pounds a term for a bedsit at Trinity, and I
was a few years after you. Grants were something like 1400 for the year

So, no fees and twice the grant, and you didn't have to pay it back

Then soon as you got into government you decided the rest of us wouldn't
have that.

And of course in 0 years time we'll have to pay for your pension too.

--
Everything I write here is my personal opinion, and should not be taken as fact.

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 13:46:32 +0000, Paul Weaver wrote:

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 07:53:27 +0000, Clive D. W. Feather wrote:

In article , Meldrew
of Meldreth writes
I think I paid about 300 quid a term for the room, meals (and the
cleaning thrown in). Or maybe it was 300 quid a year. I'd have a hard
time finding the receipts at the moment.

Vague memory says I paid 80 pounds a term for a bedsit at Trinity, and I
was a few years after you. Grants were something like 1400 for the year

So, no fees and twice the grant, and you didn't have to pay it back
Sorry, thinking yearly loan was termly then. 6 times the grant.


Undergrads on £18,000 a year, no repayments? I'd stay in uni for ever!

--
Everything I write here is my personal opinion, and should not be taken as fact.

In message , at 13:46:32 on
Sun, 23 Jan 2005, Paul Weaver remarked:
Vague memory says I paid 80 pounds a term for a bedsit at Trinity, and I
was a few years after you. Grants were something like 1400 for the year

So, no fees and twice the grant, and you didn't have to pay it back

The grant was linked to parental income. The equivalent of about 30K
today would mean you didn't get a maintenance grant (parents had to
pay).

It's a good example of "be careful what you wish for". The current
situation has been largely brought about by pressure from students whose
parents refused to contribute under the old scheme - those students then
saying they'd rather have a loan than be penniless.

Then soon as you got into government you decided the rest of us wouldn't
have that.

See above.

And of course in 0 years time we'll have to pay for your pension too.

You are a generation out of synch. The people who got the best deal were
those who are now in their 60's and 70's. They retired (often early)
during the 80's and early 90's on pensions linked to their final salary.
Such schemes are now turning to dust (as are independent funds, raided
for stealth tax by Gordon) for those in their 40's and 50's.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
(Meldrew of Meldreth) wrote:

In article , Terry Harper
writes
I was warned off the river by my tutor, because of lack of attendance
at the labs.

I only went punting once in my three years - on the famous day that
David Hamilton's Radio One roadshow hit town. It was just too
difficult. Only a few colleges, on the river, had their own punts (for
free hire to students), and I don't recall a lot of commercial hiring
then (but it would have been a very indulgent expense). Only a very few
students had their own punts.

Eh? You came up after me (1968), didn't you Roland? The punt firms,
Scudamores and Tyrells existed then. There were college punts too,
including a substantial Trinity fleet hired to the public too.

Or by "the river", do you mean competitive rowing?

I wondered myself. Do they know how to punt properly in Oxford anyway?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Well, I'd be surprised if royal holloway and bedford new college
managed to be terribly different from Imperial or UCL or QMC or Kings
and n all those, you need to pass exams each year, just like Cambridge or
many other UK unviersities- there's no points system nor was there any between
1981 and 2001 when i was teaching at UCL (and examining occasionally at
Imperial).

Points systems typically are part of modular degrees which are typically
part of New Universities (e.g. London Metropolitan - was North london Poly
where I worked 79-80, or oxford brookes, where i was examiner in math/cs for 4
years in the 1990s...) - taking "time off for long weekends" was something
I recall a LOT of students doing in Cambridge in the 1970s, but not in NatSci:-)

The A level grades for Imperial and UCL are almost indistinguishable from those
for Cambridge university for many science subjects btw (CS&Physics for example

I didnt realize Imperial didnt have a reading week. They do have _less_
lectures than UCL (although they have more lab sessions for sciences). Most the
time taken across many universities is similar simply because there's a system
of external examiners who check the syllabi and the exams to make sure
degrees are worth the same - this is why, when you look at number of
1sts/2nds/3rds etc, awarded, they vary, fairly much in line with the entrance
grade requiements across many UK universities that still use a class of degree
system.

Of course as a cyclist, your mileage may vary across these educational
establishments in terms of safe routes, secure places to park your bike etc,
sympathy from the police, council, etc when you have an accident

Jon Crowcroft
(Now with leg in a cast instead of with metal frame, after only
4 months - oh, they still havnt done anything about the lamppost or
crack in the tarmac...which I would say, if there was another accident there,
could constitute something quite potentially legally expensive for them).


In article ,
Meldrew of Meldreth writes:
In article .com,
writes
Which of the universities in London were your friends at?

Bedford College is one I remember - that's part of the traditional
"London" University. Appears to have merged with Royal Holloway in the
mean time, and relocated out into the sticks.

So in short... I take offence to you suggesting that students "at
London" skip lectures and don't work hard

No need to take offence. My impression was that courses were completed
on a "points" basis. From what I recall it was common to almost get
enough points for a degree after two years, so the third year was plain
sailing and no need to go to every single lecture.
--
"now, the thing you type on and the window you stare out of are the same thing"

--
Jon Crowcroft

In article ,
Colin Rosenstiel writes
Eh? You came up after me (1968), didn't you Roland? The punt firms,
Scudamores and Tyrells existed then.

I'm sure they did, but not on the scale of today, and as I said earlier,
an extravagance for student on a small grant.

There were college punts too,

Yes, but not mine, nor did I know anyone well enough (at the time) in a
college that did, to be able to have them book one out for me.

including a substantial Trinity fleet hired to the public too.

See above.
--
"now, the thing you type on and the window you stare out of are the same thing"

In article , Jon Crowcroft
writes
Well, I'd be surprised if royal holloway and bedford new college
managed to be terribly different from Imperial or UCL or QMC or Kings
and n all those, you need to pass exams each year, just like Cambridge or
many other UK unviersities- there's no points system nor was there any between
1981 and 2001 when i was teaching at UCL (and examining occasionally at
Imperial).

They had a points system at the time I'm talking abut - 1973.

taking "time off for long weekends" was something
I recall a LOT of students doing in Cambridge in the 1970s, but not in
NatSci:-)

Our experiences differ, then. Remember, no cars (unaffordable as well as
not allowed) and useful trains to London about once every 2 hours with
the famous LS/KX shuffle [you had to know which to head for to get the
next train] meant that people stayed put.

The A level grades for Imperial and UCL are almost indistinguishable from those
for Cambridge university for many science subjects btw (CS&Physics for
example

I'm sure they are (not so sure how this is relevant to the current
discussion, though).

--
"now, the thing you type on and the window you stare out of are the same thing"

Colin Rosenstiel wrote to uk.transport.london on Mon, 24 Jan 2005:


Eh? You came up after me (1968), didn't you Roland? The punt firms,
Scudamores and Tyrells existed then. There were college punts too,
including a substantial Trinity fleet hired to the public too.

The only time I ever went on the river in a punt was in the early 1970s,
and there seemed to be plenty for hire then. My cousin, who took me,
was not a student at that time, so presumably was unable to use a
College punt.
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 23 January 2005 with new photos

In message , at 11:34:42 on Mon,
24 Jan 2005, Mrs Redboots remarked:
The only time I ever went on the river in a punt was in the early 1970s,
and there seemed to be plenty for hire then.

The issue isn't the availability, but the cost. And to a certain extent
the contempt of familiarity.

My cousin, who took me, was not a student at that time, so presumably
was unable to use a College punt.

Most colleges would allow their alumni to, I think. Assuming you knew
the ins and outs of the booking system.
--
Roland Perry