Does anyone know the maximum age for mature students enrolling in teenage University seminar courses?

I am not aware of any upper age limit for genuine university courses. I personally know two people who gained MA degrees in their 50's or 60's. Older people may be discouraged from taking some of the dumbed down foundation degrees in vocational subjects if it is thought that they are too old to make use of them but in the work till you drop, compulsory CPD environment which exists in present day Britain even that may be unlikely.

I just wondered because from an ageist perspective University Campuses are funny places.
On the typical average modern Campus there are few "mature"students.When there are they seem to mix in with the 18 and 19 year olds in classes and lectures but hardly socially at all.
This is because on a Campus any student over 22 is something of a pariah.
The kids are shy of them.
There is however a strange contradiction in that amongst most of the staff the opposite occurs.
Its probably rare to find teaching staff under 30ish.
The kids seem to regard any Professor or Tutor under 35 as "too young"to be a proper Prof!
They prefer 50 year olf geezers with thinning hair corduroy jackets
and spectacles.
Same for the women.the blokes look down on the skinny naive 18 year old chicks in favour of "real"women on the staff 30 ish plus!

Ejucatshun has developed into a business.
It is self perpetuating.
It produces lots of people who know lots of things, very little of which are relevent.
With CPDs ( at a ridiculous cost ) and any degree being out of date within a few years the writer decided to opt out and deny his skills to a society which discriminates in all matters.

Its a bit of a myth really whats really happened that in the 1960s and 1970s when only a few brainy folks went to a University(for instance a huge catchment area like East London didnt have a University for 14 million people
except Cambridge or Norwich and you cant imagine Cockneys going to Cambridge)
the Thatcher classes got very jealous of the few Graduates who were seen to move into the best jobs and be treated with great deference(for instance swanning around conduction job interviews all expenses paid with Board Chairmen etc etc).Mostly these graduates deserved their place-the exam system was fair and tough and required a lot of self sacrifice to pass it.When these jealous folks were out playing the swats were indoors swatting.Anyway these masses of classes got jealous at this 4 by 4 in education and agitated
for "access"to the same.Slowly in the 1990s this was catered to.The third rate Polytechniks became "Universities"over night.To graduates this is laughable considering the standard of staff and students and campus facilities(no chapel,no library,no halls of residence,no nuclear physics labs,no olympic size swim pool,no Union Hall etc etc etc).Many were and are inner city dumps small in size and stature.Their entry requirements were low low low.One for instance rates 96th on the list of Uni Academic achievment. The original Unis are still high quality.Attempts-attacks are made on them.It was broadcast that their degrees are "less"than foreign degrees recently.Rather like MOrroccoan money is such poor quality that no western bank will accept it.Recent examples of the quality of new university staff are emerging the head of IT at Hammwersmith and Fulham University is in the news-tons of kiddie porn found on his computer!So's another IT BLair whizzkid over in Southall an ex employee of The Thames Valley University-in the news this week-had tones of it all over his hovel and was found quote masturbating outside school perimeter fences on several occassions plus numerous other things,these sorts of occurences would be unthinkable at a place like Oxford or Cambridge!

Fact is Bozo that moi was educated at Poly or "College" as it was then known whilst doing my practical and technical apprenticeship at the same time.
Compared to my knowledge the Masters degree Engineering graduates I was coming across in the last ten years had less knowledge than CSE metalwork.
Its was all theory and no practical idea of how things are done.
I gave up carrying these idiots a while back.
Same with professional pilots, great at using the CD and instrument aids for navigation. One bit of cloud and without auto pilot and they literally flap.
This is the reason that bridges over the thames wobble and things built to Euro standards are cheap, nasty, break and cannot be repaired, sure they look good but its all surface and no content.

As regards the quality of graduates and their affinity for child pornography it should be mentioned that Lewis Carrol (Charles Dodgson) eventually achived the same post at Oxford as Sir Isaac Newton whilst at the same time indulging in his hobby of photographing little girls without their clothes on. At least one modern biographer claims Dodgson destroyed a large number of glass plates depicting full frontal nudity. That being said, I generally agree with the views above. Mimi is not the only engineer of a certain generation to think as he does. Ironically, as British universities dismantle their workshops, developing countries such as Vietnam are establishing theirs, in this case supervised by a middle-aged British engineer!

It often amuses me that had I put the same effort and time into any other subject than Engineering, ie Medicine, Law,Teaching etc it would have led to a greater respect from society plus a better final reward.
It is nice though not to have to pay anyone to make or fix anything as if one can Engineer one can bodge up almost anything.
Funny how people throw money at Lawyers, Accountants who charge ridiculous fees for services that carry no responsibility ( its always written out of their terms )etc but bitch and moan at paying a few Sovs to a Plumber who has to pay for transport and a shed load of tools on top of the hard earned training, dirty hands and bad back.

Its not true that Graduates in English cant spell,and they do not need to be told wear a tie and clean your finger nails.
This is just jealous backchat.
I have respect for polytechnics-as they were-they had the honesty to admit it,
students passed A levels to get in.
But when I see hoards of churlish behaved semi illiterate
thugs with books abd clipboards trying to re invent the wheel respect palls.
What they do teach at ivory towers head in the clouds places are HOW TO THINK and CREATE IDEAS AND CONCEPTS that can then be applied practically if desired.
ie products and services.
till clerks CANNOT do this.
Critical thinking etc.problem analysis

However there are some probpems that are difficult even for the brightest to solve such as how to increase the supply of pretty female spanking submissives for a new fantasy school.
I wish everyone would just remember that nearly every man made ting in the modern world was invented by someone with a brain probably a graduate or its equivalent of some sort.It would be a caveman worold without it.
The bus/car you ride in the mobile you use the very tarmac coins tv its all invented and produced by a graduate,probably American or European and most likley causcasian or japanese.

Bozo I know that I can be the worlds worse for generalising.
I think however that you may be well off beam with your theory that graduates invented most things.
Personally I have yet to meet a "graduate" with any kudos or powers of practical "sus".
The fact that the Government is full of graduates says it all
As for the person on the till, well they can be from any field of knowledge, the younger ones may be studying for a skill/qualification. The older ones may be job downsizing to get a better quality of life.
As for spanking, I assure you that if you broaden your horizons and put yourself about a bit then you will be succesfull.
The vast majority of women are Kinky with a capital K and love a bit of spanking.

You are partially right-in my experience the academic fall into 2 main categories-the tow the liners who plump for boring Civil Service or Legal careers etc selling pet food or computer parts and the rebellious who choose an eccentric maverick course.
Into this category fall crazy scientists and entrepreneurs etc.
They have a remarkable ability now and then to strike it big like Richard Branson or the worlds richest man Bill Gates (admittedly an academic drop out but an academic none the less.)
These mavericks are in the minority and often regarded with horror and shunned by the "respectable"tow the liners.
Apart from that highly educated people generally are just much nicer to be around.They dont swear or break into your apartment and they are considerate and mellow.
They dont keep pitbulls,have obnoxious noisy brats that piss in the lift and scribble over everything in sight or break it.
That in itself is worth breeding.
Education is "changing people in desirable ways"desirable of course open to debate.
Personally a lot of graduates dislike too the softy Laura Ashley Politically Correct feminist office careerist as much as you do.They are wimpish and have no toughness in the real"world"of commerce.But the public school male variety is any match for the toughest of tough working class breed.Most of these Laura Ashley types are from State Secondary school backgrounds.Most cant even cook.If they ever had to get out of their softy armchair Volvos and cease shopping at Waitrose and shuffling stupid paper reports from one in tray to another all day theyd be totally up in the air..
Or perhaps a good dose of the leathern strap upon those bare delicate oh so precious perfumed little butts Laura Ashley frocks suitably raised might give them trouble sitting on those softy office chairs for a bit and introduce them to the "real"world more effectively?

Richard Branson never went to university. He started his first buisness aged 17 straight from school. While most of what we use today may be developed and designed by graduates, the seminal inventions of the industrial age were not. The first practical steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen, a West Country ironmonger. Neither James Watt or Trevithic had a university education. George Stephenson had hardly any formal education at all, his son Robert spent a year at Edinburgh University before his father draged him back to give him practical experience railway surveying. Britain was in fact quite late in instigating degrees in engineering, most of the pricipal engineers of the 19th and early 20th centuries begining as premium apprentices with major companies. Even Whittle, one of the developers of the jet engine, started his career aged 15 at an RAF apprentice school.

The difference between graduates and those who have apprenticeships is that wereas those that go to Uni read about it and carry out Micky Mouse experiments, those who do apprenticeships etc actually do the real thing, whilst of course studying it.
University is all about passing final exams by cramming stuff into their heads. It has no lasting effect.
Even Medical Doctors do not really do any practical work until they have passed exams. They then of course bitch and moan about long hours when they start getting their hands dirty.
I have also found that amatuers are better at their chosen field than their professional equivalant. Sir Patrick Moore springs to mind.
Anyone who earns their living by doing anything that someone pays for is really a "Professional". It is nonsense to suggest that a Lawyer is Professional and that a full time checkout girls is not. They have both received training, they both get paid by working.
The difference of course is that the checkout girl is usefull.

JIMNY

Yes, I was served by RB himself in 1971 in the 3rd floor backroom in Tottenham Court Road where Virgin Records began. It was a bit of a shock to see someone as young and hairy as me in business. God knows what the album was for sure, but Tir-Na-Nog's debut album is a possible.

I remember RB had a big dufflecoat on & glasses a la MIchael Caine Ipcress File, though I'm sure neither had much to do with his successes. Hard work probably helped most,rich father or not.

MIMI

In most cases, the checkout girl would also enjoy a good spanking more, as well, though there is one smashing girl at the CSA with a criminal justice degree and a beautiful carriage or chassis in that area. I couldn't see any judge directing a jury impartially if she were on the case!


Steve M

Tir na-nOg!! Superb band - saw them as a support to Black Sabbath (really!) and they were far better.

GEORGIE

Great thing about the 60's & 70's!

Support bands often played a totally different style to the main act & you'd have a job to beat Tir Na Nog & Black Sabbath for chalk & cheese?

Or would you?

Time for a new post-thanks for the inspiration!


Steve M

Bozo, I worked for 15 years at a University and I have also completed a few courses as an adult-my last was when I turned 50 a few years back.

The two largest departments on my campus were Nursing and PE. Nursing ran courses for those wishing to enter into administration and many of the women who attended were in their late fifties and early sixties.

I remember a news article featuring a man who graduated from Melbourne University who was in his eighties. He was featrured on the evening news at the time.

I would think that England, like Australia has an equal opportunity policy in most things and Universities would not discriminate against a persons age. As long as the fit the criterea and have the money, Universities are happy to enrol them.

I went back to studies at the age of 38 and I was the third oldest in the class. Since then I have been on occasion the grandfather but I have never had any problems with younger people. Most of the younger ones realised I had a wealth of experience and information to offer.

I also remember a 62 year old man, a former Vet studying to become a Chiropractor at the University when I started there in 1990 so I don't think it is a problem for younger or older people because they have the same ambition, that to achieve their goals and graduate in their chosen field.

If you are considering studying for a certificate my advice is to go for it. You are your own master.

Well thanks!Universities differ so much worldwide.
There are so many different courses and standards.
Sadly most personnel officers know little or nothing
about the majority of them in any detail at all.
Most Universities would question if their courses were
designed for employment at all.
This is something the non educated have great trouble comprehending.
Studying say 16th Century Italian Poetry in the original Italian gives an intelligent person or aristocrat a great deal of pleasure,however it probably contributes zero to practicing a job in the 21st Century Commercial World.
This is a bad thing so think the non educated.
It is however only bad from their 24/24 blinkered work till you drop perspective.
Its all about freedom really.
The freedom of intellectuals to study for studies sake.
Universities ought not to be depised because some of their departments
do not teach apprentice metal work.
That is fascist thinking.Actually certain jobs are created by the study of 16th Century Italian poetry-book publishers,postman delivering mail related to the course,builders who build the lecture theatres and residences,professors,cleaning ladies,suppliers of classroom equipment,bus drivers and companies,train companies who transport students,canteens and pubs who feed them etc the list goes on and most of this money often comes from rich parents who would otherwise keep it in the bank.So-which would you prefer in a backward rural area suffering high agricultural unemployment?The status quo or money and jobs in the community?

Bozo, you're a prize! A prize what though is the question.....

Tir-Nan-Og,the Land of The Young. I wish to God I was young again. I am siting here with a partially paralysed left arm whilst a community care nurse attends to my mother. I exist somewhere between the cleaning ladies and the builders of lecture theatres. Most of the work I do is generated by univeristy students.

By Jiminy! Do you mean somewhere between cleaning ladies and the builders in Bozo's list? That makes you a professor - Jiminy the Professor!
Never mind, we happy professors are rated among the un-educated in some Public Schools' type eyes but don't let us worry about it too much, eh?

BOZO

Sorry this is Mediaeval French(c 14-15 Century) & not Italian, but, as Francois Villon said


"Ou sont les nieges d'anton?"

He was also the inspiration for Pepe Le Moko etc in later fiction, and therefore similarly Islamic marketplacedly-themed films.

However, Francois, exactly as per Charles Boyer didn't either in Garden of Allah,NEVER said,

"Come Wiz Me To Ze Casbah!"

None of which is the result of a university education, nor is another gratis piece of trivia for you-Charles Boyer was the model for Francophone cartoon skunk, Pepe Le Pew, and Pepe gave us the ultimate in cheesy chat-up lines, which even I never dared use:-

"You may call me Streetcar;

Because of ma desire for yew!"


Who needs Uni with friends like me?


Steve M

Bozo

We the great unwashed, salute you. You are obviously far and away above us rabble.

Steve

Now don't you go getting ideas above your station, Peasant! Back to your 24/7 job of making all those wicked 'surrogate dads' pay for their nooky.

One of the most important things I learn't from an old tech lecturer ( or was he a lecherer) was that there is one reason only for work and business......
And the prize word is................
Making money, and no other reason.
Employment has never ever been a reason for working or business.
Employment is the biggest scam word of any government.
Labour governments cover up the demise of the country by creating employment that none of us ned or want, tax men, social workers, et al.
As Alf Garnet once said, put Gold Watch on the NHS and watch the savings in pills and drop in psycological problems.
Guess he mean't the problems would still be there but no one would be sober enough to worry.
Put spanking on the NHS and Bozo would be cured

Me-thinks you mean Gold Label.