Mike Parry hilariously mocks hand embroidery ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree amid calls for shutdown: ‘You could stitch the Bayeux Tapestry!'

Mike Parry hilariously mocks hand embroidery ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree amid calls for shutdown: ‘You could stitch the Bayeux Tapestry!'

Mike Parry hilariously mocks hand embroidery ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree amid calls for shutdown

GB News
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 29/05/2024

- 12:10

The Tories have pledged to shut down 'Mickey Mouse' university courses and create 100,000 apprenticeships a year instead

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Broadcaster Mike Parry has brutally mocked "Mickey Mouse" degrees in Britain amid calls for a shut down of the costly courses.

It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to shut down “Mickey Mouse” university courses and create 100,000 apprenticeships a year instead, if the Tories are re-elected.


The “Mickey Mouse” phrase was coined for university courses that have high dropout rates, a poor track record of securing jobs for graduates or a relatively low level of future earnings.

Unveiling his latest election pledge, Sunak said: “Improving education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet for boosting life chances.

“So, it’s not fair that some university courses are ripping young people off. Thanks to our plan, apprenticeships are of much higher quality than they were under Labour. We will create 100,000 more, by putting an end to rip-off degrees and offering our young people the employment opportunities and financial security they need.”

On Britain's Newsroom, Bev listed some of the courses that could be dubbed "Mickey Mouse" degrees, saying: "At Falmouth University, University of Kent and University of Salford you can do comedy writing, stand-up comedy writing."

Whilst Bev deemed this acceptable, Parry argued the courses are "rubbish", saying: "The only way you get to become a comedy writer is to go to comedy shows and watch the experts doing it, and mix with them."

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Bev then revealed that "Surf Science" is also an option at the University of Cornwall and again admitted she thought that was "okay". She then said: "At Kingston University. You can do hand embroidery."

Parry retorted: "Embroidery for three years, but for three years, you can make the Bayeux Tapestry, you know what I mean?"

Parry added he is in favour of pushing alternative routes for youngsters, saying on GB News: "It is a good idea to stop sending your children to university to waste three years of their life. With our money, the £9,000 becomes just a distant memory by the time they're 25. And they probably hope that they'll never pay it.

"The university industry in this country, this is a much bigger story and this is a complete and utter racket.

Mike Parry

Mike Parry slammed "Mickey Mouse" courses

GB News

"I did a live showdown in Portsmouth last year, and I was amazed to find that half the audience was Chinese. Nobody in China had even heard of Portsmouth three years ago.

"Cambridge, Oxford, London, fine. But we started turning good, established technical colleges and polytechnics into universities, and then we sold them around the world.

"That's where universities make huge amounts of money. They pay their vice-chancellors between £300,000-£400,000 a year to run these ridiculous courses.

"Nobody needs to do them to get a decent job in this country. I think it's a huge fiddle if you go to university."

Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak has been revealing his election pledges

PA

Last year, the Government introduced rules to allow the Office for Students (OfS) to limit people accepted onto poor performing courses.

But the Tory election manifesto plan goes a step further as it would grant the OfS powers to shut down university courses entirely.

They estimate the crackdown will see one in eight students changing what they study.

Ending the degrees will save an estimated £910 million by 2029/30.

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