Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Arguing from the particular to the general is an intelligenty bankrupt technique. William is not exactly a normal student at any school.

Incidentally, it's also wrong to assume that Oxford is full of Tory toffs.

Balliol is well known as being a leftie college. Balliol PPE alumni include Stephanie Flanders, Robert Peston and Yvette Cooper (who was also president of the JCR in her time and very popular).

hils - amazed he got through balliol interview nonsense without some good left-wing leanings :-) ..... good for him!

hils - our posts x-ed! ..... exactly so, as my younger son discovered; he went to nottingham instead, which was actually the right choice as the english course there can be tailored to some extent ....he always wanted to go into digital advertising or similar, and was able to tilt his studies accordingly

Actually, cynic, one of the reasons they like him there is because his right-wing views provide a bit of balance. Unfortunately, the only other right-wing PPEist is a German. :)

Cynic I came away with 4 grade A 'A'Levels, maths economics business studies and general studies. The mate I refer to beat me by 1, he ended up with 5.

BOTH SECONDARY SCHOOL BOYS, both with MAs and PHDs in Economics. Now thats a FACT for you.

And I repeat their is nothing exceptional about David Cameron. FINITO

Cynic,

He did find one interview a bit disconcerting. He entered the room and a lecturer with a beard down to his navel was lying on a chaise longue. There were two chairs - one a comfy armchair, and the other a bolt upright dining chair - beardy asked him which chair he'd like to sit in......

Fortunately, they then tested him on game theory and he flew through the test with top marks.

Business Studies and General Studies are NOT proper A-levels. It's an insult to one's intelligence to even suggest or pretend they are!

so what GF, though bully for you ..... however, the tenet of your rant was, i think, that independent schools are full of toffs who have air-brains .... that is patent rubbish, just as would the converse be that all state school products are dimwits

and to go further down your nonsense-line, there is nothing to stop anyone at all, even you, from entering public service - aka standing for parliament

===============

hils - what on earth is game theory?

Game Theory Explained

Trading is a 3-player zero-sum game where one player (the house) always wins.

What is 'general studies'? Is it like domestic science. Does that mean goldfinger has an A level in cooking and ironing?

Stop talking -ite. So art is , is it. Youd find it hard to find a tougher exam than maths. And dont forget when I took A levels only a certain % were allowed to pass at each grade. Its not open day like these days.

Anyway had enough of this drivel.Off for my tea or should that be evening dinner luvvy.

i suspect gf cannot actually sustain his nonsense argument, which isn't surprising really, as it was always based on preconceived garbage

merely as an aside, art A-level is surprisingly tough and you certainly need a lot of talent to get an A* ..... from there, to get into the likes of St Martins is tougher still

.

It is a bit of a myth that maths is such a difficult A level. Unlike many other A leveld, it is only about whether you understand it. If you understand maths then it has to be one of the easiest exams as there is almost no learning of facts involved. I would rate getting an A* in history as far more demanding.

cynic
My mother's brother got a scholarsip to St Martins at age 13. He went on to be a painter, sculptor and a fairly famous fashion photographer.

Cynic he he...... I stand by it........

And whilst I support people's rights to send their children to private schools, (I believe that's their prerogative) the problem is, in this class-ridden society we live in, it will mean rather unexceptional people continuing to have exceptional education - - and by that token, the country will continue to be managed by unexceptional people, with unexceptional ideas, all masked by the name of the school they attended.

There is nothing exceptional about David Cameron.

NB, the Old Boys net work means that most of these toffs are PLACED and havent filled in a application form or CV in their life. Giddeon gets a placement because his father helped out Henrys son get a placement at his company.

You scratch my back and ill scratch your sons back.

Tally ho, you cant beat a drop of bolly down the bully.

I do believe that Eton does allow some entrants who may not be outstanding, but that is not the case at schools such as Westminster. My son has a lot of friends at Westminster and these kids are outstanding and would come out top against almost anyone.

I can see in spite of their parents, some of the children are doing well.

Same applies for me.

But I think much of the posted above is crap.

Have a good weekend.