To think an English teacher should know the correct pronunciation of Glamis?

Whatever else that pronunciation is, it is definitely not "frenchist".

If you're so much in favour of pronouncing each letter in place names, how do you feel about Leicester, Worcestershire, Alnwick, Mousehole, Tottenham, Bicester, Frome, Thames, Leominster, Edinburgh?

Oh, the year 9 learning Macbeth for the first time is here to teach us all about Shakespearean English.

Glamis to me is to be pronounced as Glamis NOT GLARMZ why is the letter I left out of the name,it's stupidity like all the frenchisms in our language!!

It's a ZOMBIE Crumbs1.

Bloody annoying when resurrect them.

Glaams and an English teacher should probably know it.

do you have one of these only it's 17 months since the last post!

aka Z-O-M-B-I-E

"Probably a bit late to add this comment - sorry!"

Yes it is a bit late.

It's exploded since a few days ago?

The last comment was a year and a half ago

Saw this thread a few days ago and have come back to comment but it's exploded since then and seems to have gone off on a tangent. However, I feel compelled to comment anyway purely to tell HesterShaw how much she has made me crack up. Spot on.

I am an ex-English teacher who has since gone onto become a university lecturer in English teacher education. I went to a Russell Group. I realised recently (with horror, admittedly) that I had been mispronouncing Glamis for years. However, although that might be embarrassing, it doesn't detract from the years and years of pupils I got through exams with flying colours and it is not indicative of my overall knowledge of literature or my intelligence. It's just one mistake.

Probably a bit late to add this comment - sorry!

I meant in Scotland, not England and Wales.

"I thought the difference was 3 years BA. 4 years = BA hons."

No, at least not in England and Wales. From Wikipedia:

"In England and Wales, Bachelor's degrees are normally awarded "with Honours" after three years of study. Some universities may require the completion of a dissertation in the third year. Students can be awarded a pass (or ordinary) degree, usually if they achieve final examination marks below those required for third class honours, but not poor enough for outright failure. This could also result from a failed dissertation, or a degree awarded to a student who was prevented from taking the final examination because of illness (an Aegrotat)."

Unless it's like one of those MAs you get automatically when you do a BA.

I thought the difference was 3 years BA. 4 years = BA hons.

I was at university in Scotland with people who finished (dropped out) at the end of third year and got an 'ordinary' degree (BA) so didn't do their 4th (MA Honours) year?

What it boils down to is that I've got an MA and all you Sassenachs only have BAs. So boo to you.

As do Scottish students, within their different system.

Beyond that students come out at the end with degrees that are of roughly equivalent value, allowing for great variation depending on course and university rather than country in which the degree was taken.

All universities also take many international students who will have an even greater variety of educational experience.

"However, they all had the standard number of years of secondary education and required qualifications. "

Yes, that's what I meant.

Not bonus points, just the pissed-off-edness of someone with both N Irish and Scottish connections that some people still don't understand what the UK actually involves.
Actually more resigned than pissed off, hence I used a not a

OK, OK Rain, lots of bonus points to you. Doesn't change the fact 4 year degrees in Ireland and Scotland are taking account of the broader less specialised secondary equivalent and students who have done A levels and got decent grades start having studied their subject in greater depth. That is why the degrees are different lengths - different starting points, not different levels of learning by the end.

Oldusername - you're not doing well on this are you? Of course the "Irish" system is not going to be the same as the "Northern Irish" system, different laws, different governments, different education.

Not relevant as they would all be 18 by the time they start university.

Not necessarily I went to a (private) school where loads of people had skipped a year early on/started school early, and therefore went to university at 17.

However, they all had the standard number of years of secondary education and required qualifications.

The point is that pupils, universities, courses and students vary and talking in general terms about Scottish universities doing this and English universities doing that is a bit beside the point when students and universities are very far from being a homogenous group.

Students in Northern Ireland take a-levels:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26056346

"In the end a Scottish 4 year degree is equivalent to an English or Welsh 3 year degree, not better (nor worse - the same, allowing of course for variation between uni not specific to country!)"

This.

"Just as many UK students with summer birthdays do their a-levels when they are 17."

Not relevant as they would all be 18 by the time they start university.

Seneca sorry, I meant to write "the rest of the UK", although actually I think the Irish system is similar to the Scottish, as Irish Leaving Certificate is also focussed on breadth not depth - students need to study 6 subjects I think and can't "drop" English or maths ... so I should have written "England and Wales", you are right.

I actually think the broader range of study to 18 is probably better than specialising very narrowly at age 16 - but the people claiming early in the thread that Scottish degrees were vastly superior due to being longer were being disingenuous because the Scottish universities assume students coming into year 1 have not studied their subject in the same depth if it is a school subject and not one brand new to everyone at university level.

In the end a Scottish 4 year degree is equivalent to an English or Welsh 3 year degree, not better (nor worse - the same, allowing of course for variation between uni not specific to country!)