Education

Proper degrees in decent disciplines. All tuition is free - paid for by the government. Most students give a basic grant to help with living expenses - not enough to live on, you'll need a part-time job or have rich parents.

BUT - to get into university or polytechnic - you'll need some decent A levels or equivalent qualifications in subjects related to the degree you're going for.

Cheers
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 13:58, 12 replies)

I like this a *lot*
But I wonder...who would choose which degrees are worthwhile and free?

None of us here I'm sure would have any hesitation in saying Maths, Physics, Computing, Engineering, Medicine etc... all the sciences.

But then, if you say "come on, there's a million of you who want to do (psychology|sociology|film studies|nutrition|"sports science"|etc), you're all going to end up in a call centre, so if you're serious about doing this you should pay for it" you're going to get a whole lot of people with pitchforks following you home.

Or maybe just make it *all* free. That'd be nice. And make it so admission is percentage based over the whole country...so only the top 10% can get in, rather than "Anyone who got an A"
(MrOli is ugly, but in the morning you will be sober, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:07, closed)

My Post

was a bit of a piss-take.

That's the way life used to be pre-1990. You had the brains - you went to uni for free. If you're parents earned under a fairly generous amount, you were also given a "stipend" or grant to help out with living expenses.

I got paid to get my degree - as did most of my peers. But it was fucking hard to get a place.

Cheers
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:15, closed)

Same.
I was in literally the last year of (small) grants and no fees.

I get more upset by the year at how much worse and more commercialised education is forced to get.

Education and knowledge are supposed to be free and universal. How are we ever going to reach the stars if we're all down here quibbling about pennies?

Point taken that your post was a piss take, but it had some strong sub text (/bait ;-) )
(MrOli is ugly, but in the morning you will be sober, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:44, closed)

No tuition is free
it's just a question of who pays for it.
(username failed moderation, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:11, closed)

We all pay far more...
if we get a nation that's uneducated, unqualified and unemployable.
( SteamedCleaner, Sat 24 Sep 2011, 14:04, closed)

I did a Computer and Electronics degree.
Was a brilliant course, but for some strange reason you didn't have to have any qualifications in electronics or computing to get on.

This was raised in a meeting at one point and apparently having a maths qualification was close enough. Fair enough, maths is important for computing and electronics, but surely the point of FURTHER education is that you at least have some knowledge of the basics of your chosen field?

That's probably why there were only about 10 of us left in the final year out of about 100 at the start.
(anonymousreality tickled your fancy on, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:26, closed)

Well
I have a degree in computing - only, back then, it was called Data Processing. I had to program in COBOL.

Since then, I've spent most of my working life in IT and, I can categorically state, that maths,beyond addy up and takky away, are not needed.

A grasp of boolean logic is a must, but maths? - nah...

Cheers
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:34, closed)

Ok, maybe not all programming computing needs maths, but when you're programming games and dealing with physics and/or collision detection and 3D graphics, you definitely need some maths skills. It certainly makes your life easier!
(anonymousreality tickled your fancy on, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:38, closed)

I concur - I failed all the maths modules in my Engineering + Computer Science degree
...but got a 2:1 and am still working as a Hairy Programmer.

Oh, you do need to be able to grasp number bases, of course. But I can't say I've needed any Laplace transforms, Nyquist stability plots or partial differential equations recently*

* except when in bed with a laydee, obviously**

** they love it when you talk nerdy
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:39, closed)

They love a bit of binomial expansion, too
(so I've heard, anyway)
(MrOli is ugly, but in the morning you will be sober, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:50, closed)

Maths leading on to programming
is more a state of mind than a requirement. The sort of mind that can derive differentiation from first principals, or even just work easily in algebra, is probably also the kind of mind that finds it easy to break a problem in to small enough pieces to teach a computer to play three blind mice.
(MrOli is ugly, but in the morning you will be sober, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:49, closed)

'to get into university or polytechnic - you'll need some decent A levels or equivalent qualifications in subjects related to the degree you're going for. '
Now THAT'S trolling.
( Amorous Badger NAKED BEA ARTHUR PHOTOS 4U, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 15:37, closed)