Master’s Degrees (Minimum Standards)

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Tuesday 15th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to prohibit universities awarding Master’s degrees unless certain standards of study and assessment are met; and for connected purposes.

It is assumed in our society that hard work, ability and merit are the determining characteristics necessary to obtain academic qualifications, yet there is a glaring anomaly in our system of higher education, which undermines the value of postgraduate credentials: the byzantine practice whereby Oxford and Cambridge universities award a complimentary master of arts degree to anyone who has graduated with a bachelor’s degree from their institutions. I say “complimentary”, but I understand that Oxford colleges often charge a £10 administration fee. In those cases, people’s BA(Hons) are automatically upgraded to MA(Oxon).

While most postgraduate students who hope to obtain an MA must undergo at least a year’s study, have their abilities tested by examination and pay significant tuition fees, often around £4,500, graduates who attend Oxford and Cambridge can automatically convert their bachelor’s degree into an MA, regardless of academic merit.

That is not only unfair to the 200,000 students who get their MA the hard way, but fundamentally undermines the integrity of the MA marque. Worse, apparently 62% of employers when surveyed reported that they thought that the MA(Oxon) or MA(Cantab) were genuinely earned postgraduate qualifications.

Eleven years ago, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education said:

“The Masters title causes much misunderstanding…most employers think it always represents an award for postgraduate study.”

There is no logical or justifiable defence of that historical anachronism, which grew out of ancient circumstances that have long been irrelevant to modern academic practice. To preserve the MA’s academic integrity, it is time to discontinue Oxbridge colleges’ ability to award unearned qualifications that can so easily cause confusion. That is why my short Bill would prohibit granting master’s degrees unless certain minimum academic standards are attained.

Let me be absolutely clear at the outset that I do not blame Oxbridge graduates for taking the opportunity presented to them on a plate—it would be nice if we all received a similar offer. The problem is that that outdated and unfair practice reinforces the suspicions of many of the privileges and advantages bestowed on a small number of very fortunate people, often at the expense of everyone else. For example, in my role before entering Parliament, when sifting job applications and hiring for research positions, I would often see CVs citing that master’s degree brand. Presumably, would-be employers are frequently superficially impressed by what appears to be a mark of high academic distinction.

It is not just me who objects to the practice; The Daily Telegraph reported last year that Cambridge academics are beginning to feel distinctly queasy about the situation. Dr Neil Dodgson, a computer academic at Cambridge, said:

“Many find it offensive that we should award a degree for doing nothing more than being able to breathe for three years…It is only a matter of time before our MA spawns a PR disaster. Perhaps it is time for us to acknowledge that the rest of the world has moved on, and to align ourselves, reluctantly, with a world that believes that a degree should only be awarded for academic achievement.”

Surprisingly, the issue has rarely been aired in Parliament or more widely, and yet the practice is a wrong that the stewards of those great universities could and should put right themselves. I genuinely hope that the new vice-chancellor of Cambridge university will take a more enlightened approach than his predecessor, who famously said that

“universities are not engines for promoting social justice”.

I recently surveyed some of my constituents and received some interesting replies. One woman replied:

“I didn’t realise that the fortunate graduates of Oxbridge could obtain an MA by simply sending in an admin fee! My son worked hard for 2 yrs for his MA”.

Another wrote:

“Thanks for informing me about the £10 MA from Oxford and Cambridge! If this is true, then it’s really too much. My husband (UCL) told me that he didn’t think this was the case. Please confirm. I had no idea. I will tell my 23-year-old who did his masters the long way!”

Another said:

“As someone who is studying for a postgraduate diploma I do feel it is unfair that this might be the case”,

and yet another told me:

“It only reinforces the privileged position that these two universities hold in our society…only academic achievement should enable any qualification at university and not the equivalent of a round of drinks.”

Some will say, “Everybody knows that it’s not really a master’s degree,” but clearly, the survey information and what I have learned from asking around show that most people are oblivious to the small print on the Cambridge website or the statement in the QAA literature. Others will say, “Oxbridge graduates work harder and have higher abilities, and the MA reflects that.” Notwithstanding the fact that that argument is usually made by those who attended Oxford or Cambridge, such an attitude is obviously insulting to the other 100 universities in the UK, which have fine academic records.

Many will say, “This is just the politics of envy, and you are just jealous.” Perhaps people who want access to such unearned privileges are envious, but others who object to the practice just want a fair system based on real rather than fake merit. Others will say, “Well, this whole thing is not to be taken seriously. There are far higher priorities for reform.” It is true that there are far bigger questions, including what is happening to tuition fees, but the Bill is one small step to rectify a simple problem, which it will achieve—crucially—at absolutely no cost. Anyway, if it is such a petty issue, surely nobody will object to ending the practice.

We need the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to recognise that it is time that masters’ degrees represented postgraduate study. We need Oxford and Cambridge to consider the situation themselves, and I shall write to them to urge them to do so. Finally, we need legislation to uphold the integrity of what should be the finest British traditions of fair play and achievement-on-merit in our higher education institutions.