Graduate sues Oxford for £1m after missing out on a first

AN OXFORD graduate is suing the university for £1 million because he did not get a first-class degree.

Faiz Siddiqui claims he was the “victim of poor teaching” that cost him the chance of a lucrative legal career.

The history graduate alleges the “inadequate” teaching on the Indian special subject part of his course resulted in him only getting a low 2:1 when he took his finals in June 2000, instead of a first or a high 2:1.

He blames the situation on staff being absent on sabbatical and alleges that medical information about him was not submitted to the examiners by a tutor.

But Oxford says Mr Siddiqui’s claim that he had lost out in his career was “complete speculation and fanciful”.

Mr Siddiqui, 39, who has put his claim at £1million, says he would have become an international commercial lawyer if he had gained the top qualification at the end of his time at Brasenose College.

At the High Court in London yesterday, Roger Mallalieu, Mr Siddiqui’s counsel, told Mr Justice Foskett that Mr Siddiqui had been “badly let down by Oxford”.

Oxford University denies negligence and causation and says the case was brought “massively” outside the legal time limit.

Julian Milford, for the university, said the entire picture of Mr Siddiqui’s academic performance was “one of promise laced with inconsistency”. Mr Milford said the only action that could have been taken by examiners when considering medical evidence would be to award a candidate his “proper class” and in Mr Siddiqui’s case, that was unarguably a 2:1, and not a first.

The seven-day hearing is concerned only with liability – with damages to be assessed later if Mr Siddiqui succeeds.

The case was adjourned until today.