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My heart sinks when history students tell me they have already studied this, that or the other. Indeed, we design first-year courses to minimise the overlap, thus accentuating the "knowledge gap", between school/college and university. So the answer to A. J. Martin's question re AS/A-level knowledge gaps (Letters, THES , April 13) is yes, breadth of coverage falls secondary to approach and method. We settle for students who arrive with inquiring minds, appreciate the links between data, literature review, theory and application, and can write in sentences.

Nick Hayes
Admissions tutor (history)
Nottingham Trent University