Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Tonitrus]

Heh, I hate mixer taps; you are right about the plugs though 

Mixer taps are evil.   

So are the plugs....they're too big and awkward.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Heh, I hate mixer taps; you are right about the plugs though 

Mixer taps are evil.   

So are the plugs....they're too big and awkward.

On the household fittings compass that puts you in the same quadrant as Gandhi; I'm in the same one as Churchill 

[Valmy]

Really? Why on earth would one not want a mixer tap?

[Sheilbh]

On the household fittings compass that puts you in the same quadrant as Gandhi; I'm in the same one as Churchill 

The Nigel Farage quadrant: no mixer taps, British plugs, carpeted bathrooms.

[Richard Hakluyt]

On the household fittings compass that puts you in the same quadrant as Gandhi; I'm in the same one as Churchill 

The Nigel Farage quadrant: no mixer taps, British plugs, carpeted bathrooms.

Plus a barrel of real ale to be hand-pumped and heritage ashtrays advertising British companies.

[Zoupa]

I assume non-mixer taps are where you have 2 faucets instead of one?

Lots of those still in France too. They're quite annoying honestly. Sometimes you have to accept the Yanks might be right about a few things... like mixer taps.

[Tonitrus]

Heh, I hate mixer taps; you are right about the plugs though 

Mixer taps are evil.   

So are the plugs....they're too big and awkward.

On the household fittings compass that puts you in the same quadrant as Gandhi; I'm in the same one as Churchill 

I think I might prefer to call it the Eisenhower quadrant.   

[Josquius]

You will still be forced to have the fake fireplace in the living room though, right? Right?

Forced?
A house without one is weird. I'm getting one put in.

[Sheilbh]

This feels disgraceful and will disproportionately hit pupils in poorer areas, which is particularly bad given that alraedy fewer Scottish kids from a working class background go to uni than England:

SQA under fire after downgrading 124,000 predicted exam results
Scottish Qualifications Authority warned it will be deluged with appeals
Severin Carrell Scotland editor
@severincarrell
Published on Tue 4 Aug 2020 16.47 BST

Scotland's exams authority has been warned it will be deluged with appeals after it rejected nearly 124,000 recommendations from teachers for this year's exam results.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority said it had downgraded nearly a quarter of all the recommended results for school pupils this year, after school exams were scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Even so, the SQA handed down a high number of passes this year, increasing the number of National 5 passes, which are equivalent to GCSEs, by nearly three points to 81.1% and the number of Highers, roughly equivalent to A levels, by 4.1 points to 78.9%. Last year, overall results fell for the fourth year running.

Partly reflecting the improved results, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said the number of Scottish pupils who won university and college places in Scotland had increased by 220 this year to 28,240, despite a fall in the number of 18-year-olds.

Schools were asked to predict exam results for Nationals, Highers and Advanced Highers based on a pupil's past performance, but the SQA amended 133,000 entries, with only 7% adjusted upwards. The vast majority were amended downwards by a full grade.

Iain Gray, Scottish Labour's education spokesman and a former teacher, said its decisions were an insult to teachers and detrimental to students whose results were unfairly downgraded, hitting their chances of getting their preferred university place.

"Worst of all, the SQA have done this on the basis of each school's past performance, marking the school, not the pupil, and baking in the attainment gap. They were told that this would be grossly unfair and it is. The SQA have also treated teachers' professional judgment with contempt," Gray said.

"The SQA will now be deluged with appeals. I hope they are ready to deal with them properly."

The SQA said the normal fees for lodging appeals, which last year cost £39.95 per result for fast-track appeals, had been waived this year in anticipation of an upsurge in challenges. The authority has also promised to process all appeals submitted by 14 August in time for Ucas to confirm final university places in September.

John Swinney, the Scottish education secretary, said that without the SQA adjusting grades, the number of passes based on school recommendations would have been far higher, up by 10.4% for National 5s, 14% for Highers and 13.4% for Advanced Highers.

He congratulated students who had achieved their goals and commiserated with those who were disappointed. "This year has been exceptionally challenging but these robust processes mean we have upheld standards so that all learners can hold their heads up and move on to the next phase in their life, whether that be further study, employment or training," he said.

"All exam systems rely on an essential process known as moderation to uphold standards. This ensures an A grade is the same in every part of the country, making the system fair for everyone, and across all years."

There were complaints, too, about the SQA's decision to cut Higher passes for pupils from the most deprived areas by over 15 points, from the 85.1% pass rate recommended by teachers down to 69.9%. By comparison, grades were cut in only 9.8% of cases for the best off pupils.

The SQA said it felt teachers were overstating the likely passes for pupils of all backgrounds and it published data showing that in 2019, only 65.3% of children from the 20% most deprived areas got Highers, compared with 68.2% in 2018.

SQA data also showed passes for children in the middle income band were cut by 11 points from the 88.2% recommended by teachers to 77.3%, compared with a 73.4% pass rate in 2019.

Gray said the cuts in grades for the poorest pupils were "shocking". "The SQA and John Swinney were repeatedly told they should not mark pupils down on the basis of their school's past performance, but they've done exactly that."

Swinney and Ucas said the results showed better results and increased university acceptances for pupils from the most deprived neighbourhoods, with the attainment gap between the most and least deprived narrowing.

Even so, social media feeds were crowded with teenagers and families complaining about their awards. Among them was Amna Salem, the Glaswegian writer and broadcaster, who tweeted that her younger brother had done worse than expected.

She wrote: "Got an absolutely defeated baby brother over here who did well in his prelims only to be completely shafted by the SQA who seem to be rounding down at least two bands across the board in what looks like a dedicated attempt to throw working-class kids under the bus."

[HVC]

On the household fittings compass that puts you in the same quadrant as Gandhi; I'm in the same one as Churchill 

The Nigel Farage quadrant: no mixer taps, British plugs, carpeted bathrooms.

You started off good and ended with why the world is turning on you.

[The Brain]

You will still be forced to have the fake fireplace in the living room though, right? Right?

Forced?
A house without one is weird. I'm getting one put in.

I... see.

[The Larch]

On the household fittings compass that puts you in the same quadrant as Gandhi; I'm in the same one as Churchill 

The Nigel Farage quadrant: no mixer taps, British plugs, carpeted bathrooms.

Carpeted bathrooms are the true abomination.

[Sheilbh]

You started off good and ended with why the world is turning on you.

This is a generational thing and it's struck me that the reason older generations had carpet everywhere was probably linked to the lack of central heating - never made this connection before.

So you only had heating in the living room and maybe the bedrooms - hell, my aunty's house still only has heating in the living room (the beds have electric blankets). It was the same for all of her generation in my family - nan, all the other aunties had the same set up (and at least two still had toilets that were kind of outside)

[HVC]

Do you want mould? Because that's how you get mould. Use floor mats if you don't want cold tiles (and especially to keep from slipping)

[Sheilbh]

Do you want mould? Because that's how you get mould. Use floor mats if you don't want cold tiles (and especially to keep from slipping)

I mean it's not my generation - it is very rare and I think it's an elderly thing. I'm not sure I've ever actually seen it but I think it's because of the no central heating thing.