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

[susannahmoodie]

As in Thane of......?

Or is it now ok to say "glam-mis"??

"Speaking of names, I was laughed at the other day for pronouncing a French boy's name the Welsh way (in England). "

Can you tell us what the name was if it's not so unusual that it would identify him/you?
I was a bit surprised to read the other day that Lois in Wales was being counted as a Welsh name. There is no way of knowing from the census data if the parents meat the Welsh Lois or the English Lois (as in 'Lewes' Lane).

7 years secondary in England, 1 year more than Scotland.

Scottish kids are about 6 months older at entry to secondary as the cut off birthday date for school entry is end of February in Scotland rather than end of August.

According to this:

university.which.co.uk/advice/ucas-application/will-doing-advanced-highers-give-me-a-better-chance-of-getting-into-uni

Scottish students can take highers at 16/17 (s5) and advanced highers at 17/18 (s6).

Universities will typically make an offer based on S5 results, however
sometimes UK universities require S6 and sometimes students who have S6 can be fast tracked in to year 2 of a Scottish uni course.

I suspect it all comes out in the wash in the end.

Actually a student could have the qualifying Highers for University entry at 16 if their birthday falls between September and February and they don't do 6th year.

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

Obviously UK students who take a-levels, not those taking highers.

Quite a few people in my year left school at the end of 5th year, and I got unconditional university offers based on my highers, so going to uni at 17 is presumably quite common. I did 6th year because I was only 16 at the end of 5th year. I have a January birthday. So does my son, but we deferred him starting school (his at the time ASD was the main factor, as he clearly wasn't ready, but my own experience of being quite young and immature when I sat my exams and finished school was an influence). Deferring wasn't something you really heard about when I was at school, but seems pretty widespread now.

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!)

"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.

"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.

Students in Northern Ireland take a-levels:

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Yes, that's what I meant.

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.

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

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?

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

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."

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)."

I meant in Scotland, not England and Wales.

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!

It's exploded since a few days ago?

The last comment was a year and a half ago