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Surely that depends on the validity of the qualification. Given half a dozen students with HNDs getting direct entry to year 2 of a degree course,for example, you can have half a dozen variations on the theme. These can range from the highly motivated, hard-working, and intellectually capable ones who have begun to realise their potential, to those who have been spoon-fed,given multiple opportunities for every assessment, and struggled to achieve the minimum levels required to obtain this qualification - and they all, theoretically, can access degree courses because they have the same award. And that's before you even bring dyslexia into the equation. A lot depends on the ethos of the FE college where they have studied and the trust that exists between Universities and FE colleges who write references for these students. And ultimately, most admissions tutors are now in a position where, although they can suggest to someone that the course might be somewhat onerous, if the applicant has the obligatory entry requirements and chooses to ignore that advice, they would be shot down in flames for refusing them a place. Maybe the fault lies with the political and social drive for everyone to have paper qualifications - it's no longer seen as sufficient to have learned a craft or trade over a long period of apprenticeship. How many of us struggle to find a competent electrician,plumber or joiner - and what's the average age of those we find that we can trust? Eleanor Drummond Heriot-Watt University