Oxford graduate seeking £1 million damages has case thrown out

An Oxford History graduate seeking damages of £1 million from the university for ‘inadequate teaching’ has had his case thrown out of the high court.

Faiz Siddiqui graduated from Brasenose College with a 2:1 in the year 2000, but brought a legal case against the institution late last year alleging that his failure to clinch a first has negatively impacted his career.

Despite since holding several jobs in the legal sector and training at a top London firm as a solicitor, the claimant insisted that the grade had cost him a place at Harvard Law School.

Mr Siddiqui claimed that teachers were negligent in their coverage of the course, as well as being absent far too often.

The prosecuting lawyer singled out the graduate’s former personal tutor for criticism, suggesting that the academic ignored concerns about the claimant’s mental health and didn’t disclose them to examiners.

While the university admitted staff had been given extra leave in the autumn term of 1999, they maintained that the course was taught to an acceptable standard. The university also questioned the seventeen years it took for the case to be brought, declaring the delay was “massively” outside of the legal limit for such hearings.

Dismissing the case, Mr Justice Foskett said he wasn’t satisfied the undergraduate course was inadequate, and that Mr Siddiqui himself, rather than Oxford, should be held accountable for the mark.

Foskett also suggested factors other than poor mental health had contributed to his lack of success. The court heard from previous employers complaining of his “poor behaviour, rudeness and lack of IT skills” for example.

Siddiqui himself even admitted to a “selective reading” of the set texts and his personal confusion regarding the format of the final exam. Students at Oxford and similar institutions, the judge argued, cannot expect to be “spoon fed” answers by their tutors.

The judge also speculated that as tuition fees continue to increase, it may pave the way for such cases to become more common as graduate scrutiny of grades becomes more intense and competition for jobs increases.

The judge warned graduates to be wary of legal action however, saying it was an expensive and risky way of challenging results.