Should Cambridge stop publicly displaying exam results?

On the one hand I don't really see the point of the public display, apart from tradition for traditions' sake.

On the other hand I do wonder how those who can't cope with their performance being displayed publically plan to cope with life and its rather more punishing vagaries after graduation. I don't think universities should be places that strive to maximise mollycoddling their student's 'feelings', because that doesn't prepare them at all for a transition into a competitive world outside the bubble.

No. It's a very long-standing tradition. If you're actually at risk of serious consequences, you can get an exemption. Otherwise, you can suck it up. I hope the University stays the course and actually holds out against the jazz hands brigade for once.

That can be as much an argument for changing something as for keeping it.

In and of itself, 'tradition' is a very weak defence of a practice. If legitimate reasons arise to change it, then the fact it's long-standing is really no answer.

No. It's a very long-standing tradition.

I basically disagree. One of the nicest things about Cambridge is its traditions and I for one don't want to see them progressively torn apart except where it is strictly necessary. Here it isn't.

.this is nothing more than sentimentality.

I personally think the sense of identity that comes with continuity is worth something. I don't see why my positive sentimentality about the tradition is any less valid than the negative sentimentality from the occasional person who gets a bit upset because other people can see their grades.

I generally enjoy your posts, so I hope you'll forgive me for saying that I'm disappointed to see you buying into this leftist pseudo-intellectualism that disregards all matters of tradition, culture, and identity as worthless.

No. Oxford are stupid for stopping it.

I would have loved to have my name displayed under the Class I heading for everyone to see.

Perhaps, but, outside the bubble, companies don't put up a list of their employees annual appraisal results.

My view is an anonymised version (student id) would be better - at least you can see your own result and the overall gathered field.

On the one hand I don't really see the point of the public display, apart from tradition for traditions' sake.

On the other hand I do wonder how those who can't cope with their performance being displayed publically plan to cope with life and its rather more punishing vagaries after graduation. I don't think universities should be places that strive to maximise mollycoddling their student's 'feelings', because that doesn't prepare them at all for a transition into a competitive world outside the bubble.

That is not at all my position. My view is that wanting to preserve something for tradition's sake should only ever be an auxillary reason after the institution/practice's positive impact has been established. I am certainly not party to disregarding tradition, as the first given supporting reason in the description of the Monarchist society I founded makes clear. I am not taking a position on this particular issue because I don't know anything about it, but the point I was making was that wanting to preserve something solely because it is a tradition is brainless sentimentality.

But typically tradition is in itself evidence of positive impact. Practices have to be useful in some way to continue to be used, or the people doing it would not waste their time. It seems probable, then, that there is some substantial value to this method just because it is a tradition.

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