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No discussion of the masters degree is complete without taking note of another peculiarity of English - though less so Scottish - education, namely the specialised sixth form, which transfers to school much of what is taught in the first university year elsewhere.

In what other country can one start university without, depending on the area of specialisation, any mathematics, science, literature or languages after the age of 16. The loss is, of course, largely in what the Germans call Allgemeinebildung, or general education, which does not feature formally in the Bologna Process, though that does not mean it is not there.

Lewis Elton, Visiting professor of higher education University of Gloucestershire.