I can appreciate this woman's frustration, and applaud the court's decision.

It took me over two years to find an institution that would enrol me onto its postgraduate programme without a B Hons degree to my name. I have a few diplomas, some prior learning at postgrad level and 20 years of related experience (during which time I have been an avid independent, informal learner), which my current university (Oxford Brookes, to give them a plug) was happy to accept as equivalency. By contrast, the Open University initially said I had to do a 6 month bridging course and then moved the goalposts to say that I had to do a fast track (2 year) B degree first. In theory all universities offer the opportunity for applicants to prove aptitude/ability/whatever by means of a panel interview. However, since I would imagine that making that decision is something very few of the faculty want to have to to do, and my experience was that none of the institutions I approached was actually prepared to go this route. I guess I could have stamped my feet and insisted that they follow protocol, but I lost the stomach for the fight and then caught a break when Brookes offered me a place unconditionally.

I guess the gist of this rather rambling account is that many institutions are addicted to pieces of paper.

Sadly, the institutions are not unique. Among employers (my own included) - informal learning is often stongly encourageed as an alternative to accredited courses and programmes. However, when it comes to recruitment, they tend to want to see the right bits of paper, which strikes me as being somewhat hypocritical.