LETTER: A degree of flexibility

From Ms Maureen FitzGerald

Sir: Your editorial ("A dunces' debate", 30 August) is correct - the possession of A-levels need not prevent one from gaining a university degree.

Possessing only seven O-levels, I applied to the respectable "old" university of Kent where I gained a Master of Arts degree (1988). Having neither time nor money to spend three years as an undergraduate, I opted instead for a one-year Master's, a significantly harder degree to attain.

Not only did I pass, but I passed well and will shortly gain my PhD degree at another well-respected "old" university - the University of Warwick. Apart from a pre-existing intellectual capacity, the key ingredient, I am told, is determination and grit.

Which perhaps goes to show that A-levels should be used as an indicator, rather than an absolute.

Yours sincerely,

Maureen FitzGerald

Southam, Warwickshire

30 August