I disagree with Nicholas Barr's criticism (Letters, THES , May 23) of Damian Green ("Will you stand for Blair's bloody-mindedness?", THES , May 16).
It is too simplistic to say we need more graduates to aid growth. Well-trained graduates of vocationally relevant courses bring obvious benefits to the economy, as do intelligent, articulate humanities graduates with well-trained minds and clever pure scientists.
But why would the economy need lots of people who have scraped a devalued 2.2 or 2.1 from a course dumbed down because students are too thick or badly schooled to cope ("Dumbing down rife, poll reveals", THES , May 23)?
Richard Austen-Baker
Reading University
Please
or to read this article.Register to continue
Get a month's unlimited access to THE content online. Just register and complete your career summary.
Registration is free and only takes a moment. Once registered you can read a total of 3 articles each month, plus:
- Sign up for the editor's highlights
- Receive World University Rankings news first
- Get job alerts, shortlist jobs and save job searches
- Participate in reader discussions and post comments
Subscribe
Or subscribe for unlimited access to:
- Unlimited access to news, views, insights & reviews
- Digital editions
- Digital access to THE’s university and college rankings analysis

Already registered or a current subscriber?