THE FORGOTTEN TENTH
SIR,-1 write merely. to underline what Dr. Cotgrove says in his article about 'The Forgotten Tenth.' Those in high places have never got it clear that a university student (A) is not the same • as a degree student (B). The UGC looks after A, amid universal excitement; nobody looks after B- A, the 'forgotten tenth,' which is probably a figure increasing in rela- tion to A.
Certainly as a university-admitting authority I now find on my hands left over a batch of good boys and girls clearly capable of lower second class honours. Doubtless a first or two'lurks among them undeveloped; and there is also a lower depth of those who have just made the entrance grade and no more.- ACE (in the April issue of Where?) has brought an element of order into the situation, since now at least we have a list of the institutions which offer courses for the various London Ex- ternal Degrees. Should one put this in the hands of applicants and say, 'There is no shortage of degree places (B— A): go ahead and do your best'? Or should one say, 'Do not try for a full-time degree unless you can get to a university : a part-time pro- fessional qualificatioli of good standing will serve you better in the end'?
I am inclined to think that, 'as things are, the second is generally the right advice, and that this Will continue till the Ministry of Education takes seriously its responsibilities for work of degree stan- dard in the institutions which it supervises. At present it seems not so much lethargic or biased as simply clueless.
W. J. M. MACKENZIE Department of Government, Manchester University
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