Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Agelastus]

What's the deal with all the various Oxford colleges?

It's a collegiate university, in the same vein as Cambridge and, to a lesser extent, Durham. Each college is effectively a mini-university within an overarching degree awarding system.

As I understand it, anyway...I didn't manage to get into either Merton or Durham.

[Admiral Yi]

Don't the Ivy League schools also do the many colleges thing?

AFAIK just the main one and the historically chick only college.

[Admiral Yi]

It's a collegiate university, in the same vein as Cambridge and, to a lesser extent, Durham. Each college is effectively a mini-university within an overarching degree awarding system.

As I understand it, anyway...I didn't manage to get into either Merton or Durham.

So like each college has its own faculty, courses, etc., that other college students can't take?

[Sheilbh]

So like each college has its own faculty, courses, etc., that other college students can't take?

Yep. I think so anyway.

[Sheilbh]

Oxbridge, like the legal system and Parliament is largely based around allowing emotionally damaged public schoolboys to continue to live in a shit Hogwarts for their entire life

[OttoVonBismarck]

We don't usually have that strict of a division in America, but most universities are subdivided into colleges here and your "course of study" will require you to spend most of your course hours within your chosen college. But usually taking electives across colleges is both allowed and even mandated to a degree. But there are some closed colleges; a lot that I'm familiar with have pretty segregated business schools and engineering schools--most of those colleges don't let anyone not in those colleges take their courses.

[Sheilbh]

They're not divided by subject though - except for a few that I think still only churn out priests - so you'll be able to do, say, an English degree at any college in Oxford but my understanding is that the vast majority of your teaching will take place within your college and with the academics of that college.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Yeah, we don't have that here. The closest we have are the large "college systems" like the SUNY or UC systems, where the system itself is the degree granting institution but you attend only one specific "part" of the system. So SUNY Oswego or SUNY Courtland both would offer an English degree. But these large university systems spread their campuses all over an entire state, so it isn't like they'd all be in the same geographic area but with totally independent/full-fledged campuses.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah. Okay. That sounds similar to the 'University of London' which is actually made up of a load of colleges/schools: University College London, King's College London, LSE, Imperial etc.

Edit: Well this is good, but depressing:

Sutton Trust analysis shows big rise in state educated ministers
Category: Press releases Author: Sutton Trust
Posted on: July 14, 2016

30% of Theresa May's new cabinet received a private education, the lowest proportion for a new Prime Minister's cabinet since Attlee in 1945, Sutton Trust analysis published today reveals.

With 44% educated at non-selective state schools, the new cabinet has a higher proportion of comprehensive educated ministers than David Cameron's 2015 cabinet (43%) or the 2010 coalition cabinet (21%). With the addition of grammar school alumni, 70% are state educated.

Cabinet ministers are still over 4 times more likely to have gone to a fee-paying school for all or part of their secondary education than the general population, of which 7% went to private schools.

However, the proportion of independently educated ministers attending Cabinet is nearly half that of the previous cabinet (50%) and much lower than the coalition 2010 cabinet (62%). it is significantly less than earlier cabinets under Conservative Prime Ministers, John Major (71% in 1992) and Margaret Thatcher (91% in 1979). Tony Blair and Gordon Brown both had 32% of those attending cabinet privately educated, while 25% of Clement Attlee's first cabinet had been privately educated.

70% of cabinet ministers were educated in state schools, compared with 21% of the cabinet in 2010 and 43% in 2015. 26% attended state grammar schools from the age of 11, while the Prime Minister did so from the age of 13.

Of the 27 ministers attending Theresa May's new cabinet, 44% went to Oxford or Cambridge universities. This compares with 32% of backbench Conservative MPs in the 2015 parliament, and 26% of all MPs who attended Oxbridge. 50% of David Cameron's 2010 cabinet were Oxbridge-educated

A further 41% were educated at other Russell Group universities (excluding Oxbridge), compared to 25% of backbench Conservatives and 28% of all MPs.

Prime Minister Theresa May continues the academic dynasty at Number 10 that stretches back to before the start of World War 2: with the exception of Gordon Brown, every Prime Minister since 1937 who attended university was educated at one institution – Oxford.

Last year Parliamentary Privilege – the MPs, a research brief published by the Sutton Trust showed that 32% of the new House of Commons elected in 2015 were privately educated. Around half (48%) of Conservative MPs attended fee-paying schools, compared to 14% of Liberal Democrats, 5% of SNP MPs for whom we had data and 17% of Labour MPs. Among other MPs, 24% went to a fee-paying school. However, the proportion of privately educated Conservative MPs had fallen from 54% in the last parliament and 73% in 1979.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust and Education Endowment Foundation said today:

"I was heartened by the new Prime Minister's declaration on the importance of social mobility in her remarks outside number 10 on Wednesday evening. She was absolutely right to highlight the importance of ensuring that everyone should get as far as their talents can take them.

"Anyone should be able to become a minister, regardless of social background. It is good to see so many more comprehensive and grammar educated cabinet ministers, reflecting the schools attended by 90 per cent of children. But today's figures remind us how important it is to make sure that young people from low and middle income backgrounds also have access to the best schools and the best universities that will enable them to get to the top of so many of our professions which remain largely the preserve of the privately educated."

Everyone's making the point but it does seem true. I'm not sure this cabinet is a big difference ideologically, but socially/culturally and in terms of class it does look rather different than Cameron's.

[mongers]

My concern with this cabinet is one could argue it appears some of her former rivals have been set up to fail by her:

Boris as foreign secretary , a gaff prone failed entertainer without much gravitas.

Leadsom at Environment - an anti-scientific born again Christian leading one of the most scientifically influenced ministries. 

Fox at foreign trade minister, someone who can't seem to grasp the different between batting for Britain in the international environment, and giving a helping hand to buddies to stick their fingers in the till, Apparently. 

[Hamilcar]

So like each college has its own faculty, courses, etc., that other college students can't take?

Yep. I think so anyway.

The LECTURES are done University wide, the TUTORIALS (a fairly unique Oxbridge institution) is college based. Tutorials are one on one to at most one on three intensive sessions. When I taught there, I'd have ~2-3 students and I'd drill them doing basic physics derivations on the white board. For students with the right aptitude, there's no stronger system in the world.

[garbon]

Maybe. If you have the drive you can setup a tutorial sort of situation in the US by convincing a prof to let you do an independent study. I might be biased by how lame my assistant professor, who did my tutorial, in my term at Oxford, was. An Arizonan with a faux British accent.

[Admiral Yi]

The LECTURES are done University wide, the TUTORIALS (a fairly unique Oxbridge institution) is college based. Tutorials are one on one to at most one on three intensive sessions. When I taught there, I'd have ~2-3 students and I'd drill them doing basic physics derivations on the white board. For students with the right aptitude, there's no stronger system in the world.

This was actually my suspicion, before the Brits fed me some total codswallop.

My theory is it's the tutorial system that produces the hallmark of the Oxbridge graduate, which is the ability to speak eloquently and at great length about a subject one knows absolutely nothing about.

[mongers]

The LECTURES are done University wide, the TUTORIALS (a fairly unique Oxbridge institution) is college based. Tutorials are one on one to at most one on three intensive sessions. When I taught there, I'd have ~2-3 students and I'd drill them doing basic physics derivations on the white board. For students with the right aptitude, there's no stronger system in the world.

This was actually my suspicion, before the Brits fed me some total codswallop.

My theory is it's the tutorial system that produces the hallmark of the Oxbridge graduate, which is the ability to speak eloquently and at great length about a subject one knows absolutely nothing about.

Yi, You may well be onto something there.

But some of them aren't that impressive, for example the current Labour leader candidate, Angela Eagle (PPE, St John's College, Oxford).

[Valmy]

Leadsom at Environment - an anti-scientific born again Christian leading one of the most scientifically influenced ministries. 

Huh. Didn't know they still made Britons like that.