From the BBC news article:
Four students took the exam; all failed.
(Public schools over here tend to have very small classes for certain subject - 4 pupils is not uncommon).
– Quirm
From yet another article on the subject:
"Stephen Meek, Hurstpierpoint college’s headteacher, said in a letter to the university that the teacher had not prepared the students properly.
Exeter University had agreed to admit Ms Norfolk, despite her Latin result, as she had gained an A in history and a B in French."
Now, this sounds to me like the school was backing up an offer she had already received. In which case, she intended to go to Exeter anyway and study history, following that with a postgraduate law course. This would mean that her only concern really is that when she comes to apply for training contracts starting in 2006 (at the earliest), her A-level result will stand against her (i.e. there is no debate over her university entrance). As others have mentioned, the really huge commercial law firms do indeed look at your A-level results. I took my equivalent exams 10 years ago, and I am still asked to put my marks on the application forms I’m doing at the moment. So the whole case is based on the fact that SOME law firms place a premium on continuously high exam marks. I am still inclined to think that with an unblemished academic record before and since (except for - EEK! - a B in French!!), she would be able to get around this somewhat minor hurdle.
I also just want to reiterate something in response to Badtz Maru and treis’ feeling that something is “fishy” if a good language student cannot pass this exam. At A-level, it is assumed that the student is competent enough in the language in question to deal with unabridged texts. In my experience, most work is concentrated on literature study in the foreign language. If you miss out on the instruction in that, you miss out on the bulk of the course, as Quirm said. To criticise a student for failing an A-level language exam just because they have a history of academic success in the language is a little like tutting at someone who fails an English Literature question on King Lear when they’ve always been so good at spelling. I think.
Embra
O, what a loser, please fix my url!
I’ll learn, really I will…
Just because she won the Schools prize for latin, dosent mean that she could repeat that in another school. Maybe she was just the best of a bad bunch.
Private schools pride themselves on high marks. When the Public exams come along, it appears that they dont do as well as they promote themselves.
As for the stuck up cow, Yes, she could sue, and win, but the amount of money she is asking for is rediculous. The parents are worse for encouraging her.
I could never afford to sue to get a grade changed.
It seems to me that the whole thing is a mess of unknowns: the girl may have been good at Latin (she was only compared to three other students, and the comparison was made by a supposedly incompetent teacher), she may have been unable to go to her chosen University (but it seems that Exeter was her first choice), and the low grade may affect her future earnings (although I would guess that the top earners will come from Oxford and Cambridge, not Exeter).
My first reaction would be to tell the girl to stop moaning and get on with life. Those of use who are/were unable to afford private schools have/had to put up with sub-standard education as a matter of course; the difference is, it’s up to us to sort ourselves out, not the courts.
However, this seems to be the politics of envy. The fact is, the school failed to prepare the girl to the standards expected. All power to the girl, I say.
But how should she be compensated? I don’t think compensation for possible future earnings is the way forward, as it is very unclear whether the girl was actually bright or not. I am assuming that she was either rejected by or did not apply to Oxford/Cambridge. I am tempted to think that it was rejection, since I cannot see why a supposedly bright girl who wants to study law would not have applied to one of the top universities. And if she was rejected, it will not have been due to her Latin grades, as she would not have taken the exam at that stage (and was predicted to do well).
So, the girl is now at the University she would have been at whether she had passed Latin or not. So far, she has not been affected by the school’s failing.
I would propose that her old school should pay for private Latin tuition for her to cover the rest of the syllabus, and then re-enter her for the exam. If she passes this time, she has put herself back on track for a top flight job (and shown determination in the meantime, which must count for something).
It’ll take work on her part, but if she wants to be a high-flyer, she has to be willing to put in some effort. If she can’t be bothered, then I retract back to my “politics of envy” stance and echo TwistofFate’s “stuck up cow” phrase.
Hmm. I’d say that those who can afford private schools also have to put up with sub-standard education as a matter of course. Among other things, this student seems to have missed the important life lesson that you can’t always get things by paying for them.
Latin is nice, but less useful in the long run.
According to Anderton v Clwyd, in the House of Lords last year, you can sue your state school or education authority for causing you “harm” even if that harm is related to them not recognising or responding adequately to a pre-existing condition (in this case dyslexia) which may lead to your getting low marks. A teacher has a common duty of care to behave professionally, which may include noticing that a pupil is having difficulties studying and having those difficulties investigated…
I was sure I had remembered this as a case where the appellant was requesting damages including future earnings, but I can’t now find any mention of it.
Still, Anderton would be a case in negligence which is different to the Latin marks case which would be a case of breach of contract I suppose. Aren’t breach of contract cases supposed to place the appellant in the position he/she would have been in had the contract been performed correctly? Does this include future considerations? At the moment, it doesn’t appear that the failed Latin scholar is in a position any different to where she would have been had she gained an A (with the exception of not having the A grade, which can be rectified with the cost of the course, presumably?).
embra