In order to have a career it is required to have spent some time working/studying abroad (in some countries). If you are struggling with the language and the PhD system and the culture of the UK (not to mention the funding situation) this would seem very daunting to me ....

That is a valid point 'anon german'. But as it is in any country/culture/language (however you dress it), you still need to work hard for qualifications, if you are not capable of studying or researching for those qualifications then that is a fact. If you are struggling with the language and the british way, then a PhD would be an immense challenge. I do not mean to say that all people that show little initiative are not capable of taking up a postgraduate degree.

However, these people that I implied in my initial message simply think that a PhD will just be given to them. This is not the case in whatever country they come from, and in some cases some of the people are even british, so the culture is not an excuse. It is not the case in their home country, and it is certainly not the case in Britain, where education at university level is up there with the best in the world.

To obtain a PhD you need to fight off a huge amount of top competition, that is the point I tried to make, and that places aren't handed out like sweets.

well done stu - have a PhD on me ;)

Hahaha.

I don't mean to be hostile, although I realise it may look like that. But these people will not get anywhere without a push, maybe you sometimes need to be cruel to be kind.

I agree with Stu - I sometimes wonder how these people get onto degrees! I had a guy who used to be always late with his work alot but got away with it as he went through the dept from undergrad to MSc!