Work does need to be done at the university

It’s a curious phenomenon how some in society take great pleasure in decrying university students and those attempting to (presumably) better themselves through education. But then there has been a strain of anti-intellectualism in the UK for some time, and it has sadly only seen to gather traction in recent years.

Witness Michael Gove – an MP elected to speak for his constituents, and as a member of the government, all of us – announcing back in 2016 ahead of the Brexit vote that British people have ‘had enough of experts.’

And it’s an attitude we’ve definitely seen more of during the pandemic.

However, we would be in a sorry state if it were not for the experts we rely in every day in so many fields – many of them university educated in highly specialised areas. If one was having heart surgery, surely one would prefer that the consultant knew what they were doing…?

And so, news that the University of Portsmouth has dropped 16 places in the 2022 edition of the Good University Guide is regrettable. The drop from 72nd to 88th puts it just at the top of the bottom third in the UK’s 132 universities.

Of course it is the nature of any league table that things can go down as well as up.

One only has to look at the online comments under any story The News posts about the university to know that there will be people who either take glee in this, or see it as confirmation of their anti-student bias. And that would be a tragedy. We should take pride as city in our university. It has and will continue to nurture many fine graduates.

And the response of professor Paul Hayes, the university’s senior deputy vice-chancellor, is heartening.

They are not taking this lying down. We will need all the experts we can get in years to come, and one can only hope that as many as possible are produced in Portsmouth.