Faiz Siddiqui (pictured outside High Court in London) was seeking a £1m compensation claim from Oxford University because he believed bad tuition and staff shortages were to blame for his lower 2:1 degree and not getting a top lawyer job
An Oxford graduate who tried to sue the university for ‘appallingly bad’ teaching that cost him a top degree and lucrative legal career has had his £1million compensation claim thrown out.
Faiz Siddiqui, 39, was today told by a High Court judge the tuition he received at Brazenose College was of a ‘perfectly adequate standard’ and his failure to get a first class degree was more likely to do with a severe bout of hay fever.
Mr Siddiqui had claimed ‘boring’ tuition and staff being on extended sabbatical leave had meant he only got a lower 2:1 instead of the higher upper second or first he was hoping for.
He maintained this cost him a place on a law course at a top Ivy League university like Yale or Harvard and subsequent high-flying legal career.
But today Mr Justice Foskett ruled Mr Siddiqui’s ‘inadequate preparation’ and ‘lack of academic discipline’ towards his modern history degree were the reasons he under performed in his June 2000 exams.
The university admitted it had ‘difficulties’ teaching students like Mr Siddiqui who specialised in Asian history during his final year – because more than half of the faculty teaching staff were on sabbatical leave at the same time.
And Mr Siddiqui said the standard of tuition he received from Professor David Washbrook suffered badly as a result of the ‘intolerable’ pressure he was under, the court heard.
But the judge described Professor Washbrook as ‘an excellent teacher’ who manfully ‘put his shoulder to the wheel’ to make up for staff shortages.
The 39-year-old (pictured) was today told by a High Court judge the tuition he received at Brazenose College was of a ‘perfectly adequate standard’ and his failure to get a first class degree was more likely to do with a severe bout of hay fever and his ‘lack of preparation’
He said the teaching Mr Siddiqui received was ‘of a perfectly adequate standard’ and his poor result in one paper was more likely to have been caused by his own ‘inadequate preparation’, a ‘lack of academic discipline’ or his ‘general anxiety about taking exams’.
The judge added a ‘severe episode of hay fever’ may also have contributed to Mr Sidiqqui’s failure to get the grade he wanted.
The judge rejected claims Mr Siddiqui’s personal tutor at Brasenose had failed to alert exam authorities that he was suffering from ‘insomnia, depression and anxiety’ when he sat a paper on the history of imperial India.
While expressing ‘sympathy and understanding’ for Mr Siddiqui’s intermittent bouts of severe depression, the judge said there was no evidence he was suffering from mental health problems when he took his finals.
Mr Siddiqui and his barrister Roger Mallalieu had valued his loss of earnings claim at least £1 million, against the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford
On top of his depression and ‘perceived failure’ to win a first, there were ‘other reasons’ for his inability to hold down various jobs since university – let alone the top international commercial lawyer one he dreamed of, the judge added.
Mr Siddiqui and his barrister Roger Mallalieu had valued his loss of earnings claim at least £1 million, against the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford.
But the judge said: ‘Mr Siddiqui does now possess a firmly entrenched belief that his post-Oxford problems lie with what occured here. I have been unable to accept that that is so.
‘Mr Siddiqui’s claim fails and must be dismissed. I recognise that this will come as a great disappointment to him.
‘It is to be hoped that he can re-focus, perhaps lower his expectations at least for the time being and start using his undoubted intelligence to create a worthwhile future for himself.’
Pictured: Faiz Siddiqui studied modern history at Brazenose College in Oxford