If I have done a little less blogging than usual this morning, there has been a good reason.
Because my younger son was ill during some of his mid-final year exams in January this year he had to sit those he missed in August. As a consequence, he did not get his degree result until this morning.
I am pleased to say that I am now not the only person in my household to have a 2:1 degree, part of which is in accounting. Thomas' degree is in accounting and finance from Aberystwyth, which proved to be a great place to study.
He and I are happy chaps this morning. He's also relieved, and I am very proud of him.
The worry is, he's now thinking of becoming an accountant.
Moderation might be slow today, and potentially non-existent this evening.
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half the teenage population have a 2.1 from a Uni.. hence the difficulty most have on getting a job…Stem degree from good uni helps
You clearly do not have the slightest idea what you are talking about.
Maybe you should try getting such a degree and see how hard it is.
Teenage population = those aged 13 to 19. I would be extremely surprised if more than a handful (the extremely gifted) of them has a 2:1 from Uni.
You do make yourself look very stupid, you know.
Many congratulations Thomas, the result of a lot of hard work. (I know, I got a 2:1.
Thanks
The other half of the population are presumably chumps like you, Terry; which is even mor telling of the mess we are in. Take the day off blogging Richard, and spend it with your son, is my best thought for the day.
Thanks John
I think we will be sitting down by the river later
Richard, an excellent result for your son. Enjoy the day and may he be successful in whatever area he works in.
Thanks
I had to leave school, Secondary Modern in Christchurch Dorset as it is now, at 16 but I got 7 O levels. It was enough to get me into Teacher Training college. I wanted to get a degree and applied to London University who did external degrees in history but they wanted Latin which I didn’t have.
Fortunately the Open University the year opened in 1971, its first year. I graduated with a 2:1 in 1978.
One of the best things Labour did in the 1960s. But it nearly didn’t happen. Heath won the election and his Chancellor Iain MacLeod was going to scrap the OU ‘to save money’ but he died only 30 days into office-a shorter term than even Kwasi Kwarteng. They also scrapped the Metrication Board so we have limped along with two systems for 50 years.
Jim Barber decided to keep the OU. It’s an organisation which has helped millions fulfil their potential and also boosted the economy.
It is an object lesson in how to govern.
I think the OU of immense value
Quite agree and as the work we do and the skills we need keep changing, the OU has even more potential value.
I went back later in life to do a Masters reflecting the very different work I was doing (with development NGOs). Hard work but well worth it. A great organisation which does not get enough credit.
Indeed, the OU is a great achievement, for which Harold Wilson does not get nearly enough credit, presumably because he was a labour PM and therefore the subject of endless stupid criticism from various quarters. No surprise the tories wanted to strangle it at birth. I’m proud to say I’m now an alumni; having been lucky enough to inherit money from my parents, it’s the least I could do.
It’s where I got my degree in Mathematics (a 2:2), so not quite at your son’s level Richard! My congratulations to him. My degree was bloody hard work; a natural mathematician i am not.
Any degree worth having is hard work
OU – Not enough credit and also not enough recognition as it never appears in like for like ratings and comparisons with the brick universities, in spite of being quite literally the elephant in the room, ie: the largest university in the UK by numbers of students. And as far as I know, still the largest if you halve the student numbers as a proxy weighting for the fact that they are mostly studying part time. Got my MBA with them and have taught for them so a bit biased perhaps.
Bias allowed!
Congratulations Thomas. Have a good evening and all best wishes for the future, wherever that takes you.
Thanks
Well done
Do we get the obligatory picture of him jumping up in the air with a copy of his results
No!
PS Congratulations to Thomas. The best people get 2:1s.
I have observed when University Challenge have former and now famous students back, many of them have got ‘Desmonds’ 2;2s.
Most of my academic collwagues have 2:1s.
They are a sign of hard work and curiousity about the rest fo life in my opinion.
Excellent. Enjoy the celebrations
I feel you have done your son a disservice – you should have encouraged him to get a PPE from Oxford.
(This is a wee joke for the big day!)
🙂
Your sons and my son and daughter will be one of the hardest worked generations ever. And Covid has left some severe damage behind too.
It sort of takes away their childhood and becomes one long conversation about them and their academic work and their future.
And what’s worse is they are worked hard – not only on the subjects but how to study well and yet they still get derided for getting their grades?
They just don’t seem to be able to win do they?
I got a First in my Housing Management and Development degree as a mature student in my 30’s, and in my MBA that I finished part time at 50. There’s no way I could have done any of this at 18 – I have nothing but admiration for all of these youngsters.
Best of luck to your sons, my two and all the kids and grandchildren of those who are on this blog too is all I can say. They deserve it, and a much better future than our political parties are promising as well.
Agreed PSR
My sons had university courses heavily disrupted by Covid
Congratulations to Thomas.
My granddaughter spent two years working in the food hall at Addenbrookes so she could afford to go to university. As soon as she arrived at the York campus she went down with Covid and spent her first fortnight in isolation in her hall of residence.
I have a photo of her throwing her mortar board in the air to celebrate her first class with distinction ( sorry, had to boast about her) but you can’t see the hat because she is standing in front of a down-pipe and it’s the same colour!
She’s from Ely as well. Must be a good place to learn.
She’s in work, too, but at the same restaurant she worked in all the way through her degree. She hasn’t decided what she wants to do next.
Channel 4 news, 1 in 4 universities are running food banks.
Not deciding what to do can be the right thing to do.
Life is a not a race, and it most definitely is not a sprint. Getting the orienteering right at the beginning takes time.
Congratulations to your grand daughter
Congratulations!
How fab is Thomas- brilliant, really well done and of course “congratulations”!!!
He is about a foot taller than he was this morning – which is scary as he was already 6’3″.
Ah – yours are tall as well!
I think that we over-fed them.
When my son stands up, we have to turn the lights on!
And I’m sure he’s got hollow legs too, given how much he eats.
🙂
Bendigedig [fantastic].
Cytun
Congratulations to Thomas – and hope his future develops as successfully as his student career!
Thanks
He is reading these comments
well done your lad!
And getting an ACA / ACCA is still an excellent training for a business career.
I only got a 2.2 in ’78 (as 1st member of family ever to go to uni ) then 5 yrs with PW as it then was.
is it still called being an articled clerk?
No, nit articled clerks any more.
Nor is their technically a link with a particular partner, as I had when an articled clerk at PMM from 79.
But you re right, it remains a good trining – although it is capable of improvement.
Congratulations to Thomas!
I hope he basked well in his own glory yesterday and can enjoy the fruits of his labours in a satisfying, enjoyable and fulfilling way from here on.
Well done him!
We took him out to celebrate – he deserved it. He worked very hard for this.
Aberystwyth is a great place to live too. Any chance he will consider assisting in pushing for Welsh independence with his background in money matters?
Right now he is back in East Anglia.
The training opportunities in Aber were too limited, but I think he would like to return.
Hi Richard. Llongyfarchiadau ( congratulations) to Thomas. I also had a 2.1 from Aberystwyth in History- many years ago and agree a wonderful place to study. 30 years later I did an MSC in Agricultural Economics at Wye College in Kent. And now? after many twists and turns I am a sheep farmer as well as an avid reader of your blog and all the comments. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Ann.
I love the route from history to sheep farmer.
We have no idea at 21 what we will be. I certainly did not expect the twists and turns of my career.
Well done to your son!
I note with interest comments on the Open University where I studied in the early to mid 70s.
One of the courses I did, following up on my amateur interest, was on Geology (including a foray into Martian Geology). Given the idiosyncracies of OU study, I gave that course the soubriquet of “Rocks Around the Clock”. Fear not, the humour gets worse.
As well as the degree qualification, one of my proudest moments was winning the OU boat race. Here’s how it works: climb into the loft, sit between the joists, & use two wood battens for oars, & row like hell. There can be only one person in this makeshift “boat”, otherwise the ceiling might collapse.
I won. The cardboard medal now sits proudly at the bottom of a landfill site – somewhere.
I won – can anyone prove any different? Spike Milligan, eat your heart out!
Huge congrats!
*goes off to search what a 2:1 means*
Thanks