A judgement is expected later this month.
An Indian-origin graduate of the Oxford University has sued the varsity for £1 m citing ‘boring’ teaching as the reason of him getting a second class degree that in turn led to loss of earnings during his career as a lawyer.
The 38-year-old Faiz Siddiqui who studied modern history at Brasenose College at the university 2000, accused its staff of “negligent” teaching of his specialist subject course on ‘Indian Imperial History’.
According to the Sunday Times, Siddiqui’s barrister Roger Mallalieu told the judge that the problem came down to four of the seven staff teaching Asian history being on sabbatical leave at the same time during the 1999-2000 academic year.
The High Court in London heard the case this week and a judgement is expected later this month.
Mr Siddiqui, who trained as a solicitor after college, believes that he could have a high-flying career as an international commercial lawyer if he had not got lower grades.
Mallalieu criticized David Washbrook, Siddiqui’s guide who taught the history of southern India between the 18th and 20th centuries, for his ‘boring’ standard of tuition.
Mallalieu claimed that the eminent historian’s teaching had suffered from the “intolerable” pressure of the staff shortages on the course.
“There is no personal criticism of Washbrook. Our target is on the university’s back for allowing this to happen,” Mallalieu told the court.
The university’s barrister Julian Milford admitted that “circumstances were difficult” during that year, but argues that the claim is baseless and should be struck out because of the number of years that have passed since Siddiqui graduated.