Adrian Chiles (English students spend a fortune to go to university. Shouldn’t that buy them more teaching and less partying?, 29 March) extols the virtues of the French university regime, comparing it with the UK, where students can do what they like. At the start of my sixth form (60 years ago), our history teacher told us that he would not be chasing us to get our essays in on time as he knew that we wanted to go to university. We had to be self‑motivated. Result? I did nothing for a year and a half. I failed my mock A-level history exam. I then worked prodigiously hard and got a B in my A-level. I went to university. He had not just taught me history – he had taught me to be responsible for my own learning.
Lesley Matthews
Shipley, West Yorkshire
• Adrian Chiles is right to blame the culture in some universities in this country for scrappy degrees. Maybe the universities should make it compulsory for each student to join a work group. When my daughter studied in Belgium, a group of Germans asked her if she had one, and seeing that she did not understand the concept, invited her to join theirs. She has never worked so hard in her life.
Margaret Squires
St Andrews, Fife
