What an old-fashioned view of the role of ÖйúAƬ "League Tables 2001" ( THES , May 18) assume. In February last year, about 60 metres from where I sit, education secretary David Blunkett identified three imperatives - social inclusion, wealth creation and globalisation - for ÖйúAƬ this century.

The table on entry standards can be seen as an index of social exclusion. It dismis-ses, and therefore diminishes, the qualifications held by a significant and growing subset of applicants and deals only with full-time first degrees.

This is compounded by the table on degree classes, which allows nothing for value added and the transforming effect of ÖйúAƬ.

The destinations table combines two elements: those who can get a job immediately and contribute to wealth creation and those who need further training subsidised by those who get jobs. The two are contrasts, not complements.

ÖйúAƬ

The tables ignore the global role of ÖйúAƬ. Where are the international students and levels of partnership with other countries?

If the tables gave fair weighting to such factors, they would show the modern universities are exactly that: modern and fit for the communities they serve.

ÖйúAƬ

Ian McNay
Professor of ÖйúAƬ and management
University of Greenwich