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Your otherwise excellent report ("Privy Council asked to rule", THES , September 13) on the Swansea Institute, where students were allegedly told examination questions in advance, was marred by the suggestion that a mature student who complained was awarded an aegrotat degree by the University of Wales "because of long absences caused by a stress-related mental illness". If the student in question missed classes, this might have something to do with his being banned from the campus. Like every whistleblower, he has been subjected to a great deal of stress. But neither the university nor the institute has dared to claim that he is suffering from a "mental illness".

Colwyn Williamson
Council for Academic Freedom and Standards