"Robbins principle" means: The idea that university places should be available to everybody who qualifies for them by ability and attainment.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
Robbins principle
(UK, education) The idea that university places should be available to everybody who qualifies for them by ability and attainment.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1963 · no dated citations yetDefinitions
(UK, education) The idea that university places should be available to everybody who qualifies for them by ability and attainment.
"Robbins principle" means: The idea that university places should be available to everybody who qualifies for them by ability and attainment.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
"Robbins principle" means: The idea that university places should be available to everybody who qualifies for them by ability and attainment.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (UK) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
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Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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- conditional unconditional53%
(UK, education) An offer of a place at a particular university for a student, regardless of their performance in examinations, on the condition that they agree to choose that university over any other.
- REF53%
(UK, education) : a system for assessing the quality of research in higher-education institutions.
- red brick university52%
(British) Any traditional British university other than Oxford or Cambridge, especially one founded in the Victorian age in a large city.
- plate-glass university51%
(UK) Any of several universities founded in the United Kingdom in the 1960s in the era of the Robbins Report on higher education.
- open admission51%
(US, education) An unselective and noncompetitive college admissions process, where the only entrance criterion is a high-school diploma or a certificate of attendance or General Educational Development (GED) certificate.