Oxford University held examinations in a way that broke its own rules, it was claimed yesterday in a case in which the university is accused of racism towards one of its students.
Nadeem Ahmed, 31, is suing the university after failing an examination while studying for a master's degree in medieval Arabic philosophy.
Mr Ahmed's barrister, Karen Monaghan, told Reading county court that her client, an experienced Arabic language student, had been told he had failed an exam which a fellow female white student with no experience of Arabic had passed. Ms Monaghan said the exams had broken the university's own rules because there was no proper marking, no set pass mark, no invigilation, and no copies of the papers made before they were returned to the students.
It was also alleged that the course tutor, Friedrich Zimmermann, insulted Mr Ahmed, calling him dyslexic and questioning his use of basic English.
Oxford academic and critic Tom Paulin, Mr Ahmed's tutor, has backed his allegations of racism, Ms Monaghan said. Mr Ahmed is suing the university for racial discrimination after being asked to leave a course when he failed an exam in Arabic.
Mr Ahmed, who is British born of Indian/Pakistani origin, was one of three students sitting an informal examination as part of his M.Phil in medieval Arabic thought. Ms Monaghan said Mr Ahmed had failed the exam while fellow students Rahim Pirani and Jane Clark had both passed. She said there was no pass mark for the exam and Mr Ahmed was given no clear reason for his failure.
After he had complained about the exam result and the lack of proper supervision and marking, he became increasingly victimised by Dr Zimmermann, said Ms Monaghan. "The faculty of Oriental studies then effectively closed ranks," she told the court. Mr Ahmed was asked to re-sit the exams while the other two students were not. Ms Monaghan said Dr Zimmermann displayed "coarse and outrageous racism" towards Mr Ahmed. He had questioned if Mr Ahmed was dyslexic. He had also questioned not only Mr Ahmed's ability in Arabic but also in basic efficiency and grammatical use of the English language. Following the exam failure in 1999, Mr Ahmed was told he would not be able to go on to study for a doctorate in philosophy at the university.
The hearing continues.