header-logo header-logo

Never mind the quality!

24 September 2012 / Peter Breakey
Issue: 7530 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail

Peter Breakey breaks his silence & exposes multiple regulatory malfunctions

If you discovered that a good command of English was an official expectation for law graduates, but that there was a danger that this standard was not being met, would you expect the body charged with maintaining university standards to do something about it?

The answer should of course be “Yes”, but given the multiple failings of regulatory bodies across almost the entire spectrum of British life, cautious readers might have little confidence in “The System’s” ability to ensure that proper standards are maintained.

Such lack of faith would be entirely justified. Despite research which shows that many universities do not have procedures in place to ensure that law graduates have an appropriate standard of English, QAA  (the Quality Assurance Agency) which, on its extensive (and no doubt very expensive) website proclaims that its aim is “to safeguard standards”, steadfastly refuses to investigate.

My research into the assessment of the use of English in Law degrees began in 2010. I had long been

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

Blake Morgan managing partner appointed chair of CBI South-East Council

Birketts—Phillippa O’Neill

Birketts—Phillippa O’Neill

Commercial dispute resolution team welcomes partner in Cambridge

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

NEWS
The proposed £11bn redress scheme following the Supreme Court’s motor finance rulings is analysed in this week’s NLJ by Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
back-to-top-scroll