Oxford graduate sues university for £1 million after not getting a first-class degree
Faiz Siddiqui tells the High Court his grades prevented him having a successful career as an international commercial lawyer
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An Oxford graduate is suing the university for £1 million claiming the “appallingly bad” tuition cost him a first-class degree and prevented him from having a successful career.
Faiz Siddiqui told the High Court he believes he would have had a career as an international commercial lawyer if he had been awarded a 1st class degree rather than the 2:1 he achieved 16 years ago.
The trained solicitor suffers from depression and insomnia, which he links to examination results, and has led to an inability to hold down a job for a significant period of time.
Mr Siddiqui studied modern history at Brasenose College and claims he would have got a better grade if it wasn’t for “negligent” teaching on Indian imperial history in his final year.
Oxford University is looking to have his loss of earnings claim struck down, the Times reported.
Mr Siddiqui claims that during his final year four of the seven staff who taught the Indian imperial history course were on sabbatical leave, leading to a shortage of tutors.
Roger Mallalieu, Mr Siddiqui’s lawyer, said 13 of the 15 students who took the course received their lowest or joint lowest mark - showing “the standard of teaching was objectively unacceptable”.
Oxford University says the case is baseless and should be struck out because a number of years have passed since Mr Siddiqui graduated. The university also noted they made special allowance for Mr Siddiqui in some of his papers for hay fever.
A judgment is expected later this month.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments