Lawyers for 38-year-old Faiz Siddiqui are seeking £1m in lost earnings from Oxford University, claiming that the ‘boring’ and ‘appallingly bad’ teaching received by the now-solicitor when he was a student at Brasenose College 16 years ago cost him a lucrative career as ‘high flying commercial barrister’ later in life. The extraordinary case will claim that ‘negligent’ teaching at Oxford was to blame for Mr Siddiqui receiving a 2:1 result for his modern history undergraduate degree, and that the result subsequently barred him from pursuing a more highly-paid career. Mr Siddiqui’s lawyer, 4 New Square barrister Roger Mallallieu, will also argue that his client suffers from depression and insomnia that can be traced back to his disappointing performance at Oxford.
Staff shortages at Oxford
At the crux of the claim is the mark that Mr Siddiqui received for a course he took in Indian imperial history, which he alleges dragged down his overall degree award. Between 1999 and 2000, four out of seven staff in Oxford’s Asian history department were reportedly on sabbatical at the same time. The consequent shortage of tutors, the case claims, resulted in 13 out of the 15 students sitting the module at the same time as Mr Siddiqui receiving their ‘lowest or joint lowest’ mark for that course. A spokesperson for Oxford has labeled the case as ‘baseless’ and argued that Mr Siddiqui’s claim should be struck out, though acknowledging that ‘circumstances were difficult’ during the year in question. A judgement on the case is expected before Christmas.
Sources: Legal Cheek; The Guardian
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