UK General Discussion

[You kip if you want to...]

Ed also pelted with eggs at a market in his first public appearance in a while.

Pelter was a (D) Miliband supporter who thinks (E) Miliband doesn't stand up for the poor.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Except in the 1931, 1935 and 1945 General Elections, people in Britain don't vote for political camps, so that kind of analysis is pretty much useless. The electoral system works very heavily against it.

[Supersonic]

Dead lady gives the "party of the government at the time" £520,000 to do with as they wish.

Tories and LibDems originally take it for themselves, then give it to the Treasury when the Mail kicks up a fuss.

Silly season everybody.

Oh God, this story... *facepalm*

Ed also pelted with eggs at a market in his first public appearance in a while.

Pelter was a (D) Miliband supporter who thinks (E) Miliband doesn't stand up for the poor.

Seriously. This. Is. Hilarious.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Grow up.

[You kip if you want to...]

News at 6 have just devoted a full feature to the egg incident. Slow news day indeed.

Not to mention the order of headlines meant it was a case of "The Tories have made unemployment fall by 4,000, happy days. Now here's dorky Ed Miliband getting hit by an egg."

[Leftbehind]

Pelter was a (D) Miliband supporter who thinks (E) Miliband doesn't stand up for the poor.

Where is the f**king logic in that?! Seems the media love-in on D. Miliband has worked a treat.

[afleitch]

Pelter was a (D) Miliband supporter who thinks (E) Miliband doesn't stand up for the poor.

Where is the f**king logic in that?! Seems the media love-in on D. Miliband has worked a treat.

He's so dreamy.

[You kip if you want to...]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/15/godfrey-bloom-ukip-sexist_n_3759968.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Godfrey Bloom. Again.

[You kip if you want to...]

Story in the papers of some kid getting 7 A*s today and still getting the knock back by Oxford!

[Supersonic]

Story in the papers of some kid getting 7 A*s today and still getting the knock back by Oxford!

Yes, this is quite silly. Grades are not the be all and end all of a University application.

[Leftbehind]

Indeed, you have to be middle class as well.

[Supersonic]

Indeed, you have to be middle class as well.

*sigh*

But still, personal statement as well as the interview count for much.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Which links into confidence in that kind of situation, which links in to class.

[Supersonic]

Which links into confidence in that kind of situation, which links in to class.

Not really. You can be the muck of the Earth and still have the self-professed arrogance to write an Oxbridge personal statement.

[afleitch]

Which links into confidence in that kind of situation, which links in to class.

Not really. You can be the muck of the Earth and still have the self-professed arrogance to write an Oxbridge personal statement.

Bingo.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ah, but there's no point in looking at this in terms of individuals. You can only look at this sort of thing in an at all honest way at a social level. Because while some people from ordinary backgrounds will indeed be sufficiently full of themselves to be alright in that sort of situation, the vast majority won't. A situation that starts to reverse itself in rough proportion to privilege.

[Leftbehind]

Ah, but there's no point in looking at this in terms of individuals. You can only look at this sort of thing in an at all honest way at a social level. Because while some people from ordinary backgrounds will indeed be sufficiently full of themselves to be alright in that sort of situation, the vast majority won't. A situation that starts to reverse itself in rough proportion to privilege.

Also those unrepresentative individuals are routinely highlighted and mythologised as proof that 'everyone' can succeed, thereby allowing the status quo to continue.

[You kip if you want to...]

Then there's things outside of a state-school pupil's control: a good, yet poorly written reference, inexperience of the school with the Oxbridge application process and a lack of alumni and 'connections' in the school faculty.

All too common, no pun intended.

EDIT: Google tells me he went to what seems to be one of the most prestigious grammars in the country! But my point still stands in terms of the remaining state/private gap at Oxbridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Royal_Academy

[YL]

Indeed, you have to be middle class as well.

*sigh*

But still, personal statement as well as the interview count for much.

The interview is likely to be much more important than the personal statement, not that that removes concerns about people from certain types of backgrounds having an advantage.

Anyway, I wouldn't read much into this particular case.  The extra A levels may not have been thought very relevant to studying chemistry, and the Oxford colleges will be looking at lots of people who are getting straight A*s.

[bore]

It all depends on what you're studying. A guy who does some of the admissions for maths at Imperial college told me that they spend about 3 seconds looking at personal statements, and they make no difference at all- you'd be just as likely to get in if you wrote the lyrics to baby by Justin Bieber as if you wrote the second gettysburg address. It might make more difference in other subjects though.

The 7 a levels is obviously very impressive, but some of them might be freebies- for example, one or two of my friends have Italian parents, and speak it in the home, so they can get (and have got) an advanced higher A for very little effort.

[Јas]

Anyway, I wouldn't read much into this particular case.  The extra A levels may not have been thought very relevant to studying chemistry, and the Oxford colleges will be looking at lots of people who are getting straight A*s.

Biology, chemistry, physics, maths, further maths, Latin, and Greek - per the Belfast Telegraph

Are there any obviously relevant A levels he didn't do?

The 7 a levels is obviously very impressive, but some of them might be freebies- for example, one or two of my friends have Italian parents, and speak it in the home, so they can get (and have got) an advanced higher A for very little effort.

Doesn't look like there are any "freebies" there to me.

[bore]

Anyway, I wouldn't read much into this particular case.  The extra A levels may not have been thought very relevant to studying chemistry, and the Oxford colleges will be looking at lots of people who are getting straight A*s.

Biology, chemistry, physics, maths, further maths, Latin, and Greek - per the Belfast Telegraph

Are there any obviously relevant A levels he didn't do?

The 7 a levels is obviously very impressive, but some of them might be freebies- for example, one or two of my friends have Italian parents, and speak it in the home, so they can get (and have got) an advanced higher A for very little effort.

Doesn't look like there are any "freebies" there to me.

If you have been brought up speaking a language fluently (one of them even lived in Italy until he was 5) it makes it easy to pass an exam in the subject. That's not me making an assumption, they themselves said the exam was easy and that they didn't have to do any study for it.

If you're talking about the boy who got rejected, then yeah I agree with you, that's obviously not the case here. I can't see any reason why they rejected him, but really they're only harming themselves.

[YL]

Anyway, I wouldn't read much into this particular case.  The extra A levels may not have been thought very relevant to studying chemistry, and the Oxford colleges will be looking at lots of people who are getting straight A*s.

Biology, chemistry, physics, maths, further maths, Latin, and Greek - per the Belfast Telegraph

Are there any obviously relevant A levels he didn't do?

Not other A levels, no, but he'll have been being compared with other students who may have looked more impressive when it comes to chemistry specifically (they probably expect more than just A*) and that could have been preferred to taking Latin and Greek.  But obviously I don't know what the reasons actually were, or whether they were justifiable.

[YL]

Apparently two of the five Respect councillors on Bradford city council have been suspended from the party for opposing George Galloway's desire to be mayor of London.

... and now all five have resigned the whip in protest.

[Leftbehind]

At this point I think even Griffin's taking notes on how to sabotage your party as good as Galloway has.