In fact I rather hoped I had – the alternative was a mere Pass & that was regarded as worse than a fail - with that you could always pretend you had simply found more exciting things to do than work at your books.
When my husband came home to say the results were up on the notice board (days earlier than expected) I would not believe what he told me. Switched off the oven & made him take me down to see with my own eyes.
I was sure they had made a mistake. In fact, for the best part of 5 years afterwards I expected a letter to tell me so. Then I could start to laugh at my foolishness – Such things do not happen! And realise the gulf which lies between a first & lower class degrees.
A few years ago something of the sort happened to a girl in Scotland, who was informed of the mistake in her degree classification a few weeks after she had taken up the job which had depended on it. Crikey, such things do happen after all. I just thanked my lucky stars.
And now we hear that it has happened with doctors.
Are examiners getting more careless, too overburdened with marking, or were earlier generations just lucky to get away with it?
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