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The response in last week's letters to the charge of low standards of teaching in United Kingdom universities misses the point that those in charge of recruitment discriminate against candidates who have experience of teaching in other educational sectors.

There seems to be a pervasive attitude among the tenured elite that if such a candidate has dared to demean her or himself by teaching the odd GCSE or A-level at a further education college or spent time abroad teaching English as a foreign language, then they have become irredeemably sullied by contact with the world outside the ivory towers most university teacherslive in.

This even applies to candidates who have taught in foreign (ie non-US and Commonwealth universities), which is unfortunate because conditions for both teachers and students are often far worse than in UK institutions. By not considering such candidates for academic posts here, universities are missing out.

ROBERT MURRAY Wanstead, London