--On Monday, November 6, 2000 09:21 +0000 Roger Clark 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I have been asked to go to a meeting on Thursday at the DfEE to
> discuss possible improvements to the collection and input of course
> data by HEIs into the HEI Database of courses and term dates.
>
> Would anyone who has any views or suggestions please let me have them
> by lunchtime on Wednesday.

Another input from Cambridge:

 1. There continue to be problems distinguishing between 3 and 4 year 
courses in the same subject, with LEAs usually selecting the wrong code 
on their certificates.  In many cases, it is not confirmed whether the 
student will continue onto the fourth year until the end of their third 
year, so even we cannot predict the correct code in advance.  I've no 
idea what happens about an overpaid loan entitlement when a student 
thought to be on a 4 year course graduates and leaves after 3 years.

 2. At Cambridge, it could be argued that we have only one course: a BA 
degree, with no specified subject (setting aside for a moment the 
various Masters courses).  Students qualify for the BA degree by 
combining two or three Tripos examination courses of 1 or 2 years each, 
the BA being obtainable after 3 or 4 years.  The Tripos examinations do 
not have to be in the same subject.  It's like a modular system, with 
the modules being 1 or 2 years in length instead of semesters.  So the 
whole business of trying to assign course codes to students is a 
pointless and time-wasting process, since students can change subject 
(and therefore course code) every year in principle.  Since the degree 
itself is designated, the subject being read by the student is 
irrelevant to their eligibility for Student Support.  Can we not be rid 
of this entire business?

-- 
Robin Walker, (Junior Bursar), Queens' College, Cambridge, CB3 9ET, UK
[log in to unmask] http://www.quns.cam.ac.uk/ Tel:+44 1223 335528 Fax:335566


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