crammer

Q. My 16-year-old son is interested in a career in golf course design, but I can't seem to find a university course in it. Can you help? He is doing A-levels in geography, business studies and biology. D. Harrison, Sandy, Bedfordshire

A. There is currently no recognised course in golf course design, but a postgraduate one is being developed at Kingston University by its department of architecture in association with the British Institute of Golf Course Architecture.

If the course gets the appropriate validation, it hopes to start recruitment from autumn, with the first students starting in summer 1996. The plan would be for the course to consist of two four-week blocks in successive summers, with perhaps an Easter block in the middle.

This course will replace a two-year one which has been offered to students by the British Institute of Golf Course Architecture but which has had no official educational recognition.

Golf course design is a very small profession with only about 40 members of its own governing institute - some of these based abroad. For more information, contact the British Institute of Golf Course Architecture on 01883-712072. For more information about the potential course at Kingston, contact Dr Peter Jacob at the School of Architecture on 0181-547 2000.

The A-levels your son is doing are good ones for golf course design. After A-level he should aim for a degree in landscape architecture, civil engineering, architecture or any of the design areas. There are also golf course-keeping degrees on offer at several universities, including Kingston.

Q. A friend of my son's goes to a school which allowed pupils access to an English comprehension paper the night before the exam, to take home to study and prepare for the exam the next morning. Is this allowed? A.S. Middlesex

A. Absolutely not. Exam boards do vary in the way they expect their exams to be conducted, but none of them would allow this kind of behaviour because it is cheating.

Schools are sent their exam papers a week or so in advance, but they must not be opened until the beginning of the exam. The envelopes have a see-through window with the reference number of the exam paper so that schools can check they have the right papers without opening the envelope.

Exam boards rely on the professional integrity of teachers to stick to the rules of confidentiality.

It may be that the English comprehension paper sent home for study was one from a past year for practise. If not, the exam board in question would want to know about it. Exam-board addresses can be obtained from your local public library.

If you have an educational query, please send it to 'Crammer', Education Section, the Independent, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5DL.