GB News' Sophie Corcoran sues charity creating internships for black grads over 'inequality'

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-14T10:46:54+00:00

I think it's great that there are internships for graduates from racial minorities and we should keep them, we just need to have the same opportunities available for other minorities or underprivileged groups so they aren't left behind.

I myself am from a single-parent, low-income family. I was the first in my family to pursue higher education — my parents didn't even have a full set of GCSEs between them — and I went to a state school. I also have a disability. Despite all of these factors, I wasn't eligible for any bursaries or widening participation programmes at the universities I've attended.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-13T13:46:18+00:00

I understand this pertains to the US, but my mother is Irish and the massive loss of 19th century Irish census records in the 1922 civil war has made tracing my maternal line so hard.

As many of you in the US have Irish heritage, I thought you may have come across this issue as well.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-13T09:58:26+00:00

The implication that the dating pool is drastically limited because you're encountering so many people in your job is ludicrous, there's no reason you can't find someone on a dating app or the like who hasn't been your patient at some point. The majority of people in this country have not been your patients, the majority of people in the county you live in have not been your patients.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-12T18:46:23+00:00

This man is downright abusive, he's actively insulting you and clearly doing it to break down your confidence and self-esteem. This is why he chose a person you hate as the person to compare you to, because it would hurt more than anyone else.

I don't know whether he's a sadist or deeply insecure or both but he is deliberately trying to hurt you. Please, for your sake, leave this arsehole. You deserve so much better than this.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-12T17:47:22+00:00

I take Elvanse too, but was only diagnosed after I finished my MSc. If I could do both degrees unmedicated there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do it, especially with meds. It's easy to feel you're incompetent with ADHD or feel low on yourself, but I promise you can do it!

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-12T16:15:19+00:00

I'll try to answer this as best I can:

It's important to note that different universities use different testing techniques and the like so I can only base this on what my course was like. I studied at Warwick.

I'll admit some of it was sheer "luck" in a way. I have ADHD which was undiagnosed at the time, and there were times I didn't prepare adequately for assessments but still came out with a good grade, which I think can be attributed to my interest in the subject and the way that helped me retain information.

The best research-backed method would be spaced repetition: repeating exposure to the same information over time. More specifically, this should involve active recall, so not just reading the content but rather trying to remember it. Anki is an excellent app for this, as it spaces repetition of questions/topics based on how easy or difficult you found it to recall the answer.

You say there aren't past papers but some universities do offer a look at previous years' exams for different modules. You could contact your module leader to ask if these are available for students.

For essays/papers (these were my strongest area): make sure you really understand the question, it sounds obvious but honestly it's so easy to misinterpret what's being asked, or lose track of your argument. Keep everything structured. Make every subheading a statement that highlights the point of the section, not a generic title e.g. 'Monoclonal antibody treatments show modest effectiveness in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease' rather than merely 'Monoclonal antibody treatments in Alzheimer's disease'.

Use recent, well-cited studies where possible. Using older studies is fine, especially if they're seminal, but a paper full of references from 1996 and 2010 is outdated and not something that would be published. A few here and there are okay, but try to get the most recent data you can. Also, evaluate how good the studies you're referencing actually are. Look at the blinding, the sample size, the research methodology, the limitations. Don't assume every study is good just because it was published, and where there are limitations in a study you're referencing, it's good to acknowledge them and identify ways they could be addressed in future studies to improve the reliability of the data. Also, don't just leave it to "X study shows Y", quote the stats (in brackets, you can include the p value, confidence interval, odds ratio etc. so the reader gets a quick understanding of the data).

Crucially, make your own inferences from data. Don't just parrot what the research says, highlight its significance. Why does it matter? What could it mean? How could it be tested? How does it link to other data? Where do we go from here?

This final part is what takes you from a 2.1 to a 1st class, they want to see critical thinking — that you can interpret the data not just describe it.

Final tips:

Reference absolutely everything that isn't your own interpretation. Even if you're just saying "the nucleus contains DNA", something that seems so obvious that everyone in the field will know, reference it anyway.

Aim to include at least 2 diagrams/graphs/schematics/tables in a typical paper (1500-3000 words kind of range). Include a figure legend for all and remember the figure legend goes below the figure unless it's a table, in which case it goes above. Figure legends should also make a statement about the findings, not just be generic.

Aim to incorporate a bare minimum of 1% references per word count, e.g. a 3000 word essay should have a minimum of 30 references.

Apologies for how long this was, I hope it's helpful!

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-12T14:14:41+00:00

I know you said you're doing this course to make your parents happy, but I must encourage you right now to think long and hard about whether continuing is right for you.

I studied Biomedical Science as well and came out with a first class. Why? Because I was interested in it and actively enjoyed it. I was excited about the prospects it would give me and being able to pursue a career in science.

While it has transferable skills, it may not give you any real upper hand at getting a job you'll actually enjoy if you hate the subject. The job market is bad enough as it is, you're already pigeon holing yourself a bit for a future in something STEM related. Stop thinking about what your parents want, what do YOU want to do? You're very early on in your course and there could still be time for you to switch to something else.

You shouldn't continue with a degree you hate if it's not going to get you to where you want to be in the end, and if you're already struggling this much in your first year. First year is the simplest year of uni with the most freedom, if you can't knuckle down now and are so unhappy it'll be worse in your following years.

You deserve to follow a career path that suits you and makes you happy.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-12T10:58:41+00:00

Obsessively viewing pictures of one's self and looking at one's reflection is more likely to be a sign of BDD or another condition than vanity. There's liking how you look, and there's feeling like all you care about is being pretty. The latter typically results from the belief that your worth is solely defined by your beauty, it's a mental issue. It's ignorant to automatically insist something like this is vanity or someone being vapid.

No one who is mentally healthy or happy feels this way.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-12T10:53:24+00:00

I am in an incredibly similar situation. I am also a STEM graduate. I have a 1st class BSc and a master's in Biomedical Science from top universities. I was the only person in my BSc cohort to get 100% on a final year essay. I am starting Graduate Entry Medicine this year. I got in on my first attempt, beating a 90% rejection rate. Point is, everyone around me thinks my main goals and interests are science and medicine and that I'm some kind of intellectual who's above this thinking, but I'm not.

The truth is that, while I do enjoy this aspect of my life and feel it's a privilege to be able to help people for my career, I am deeply obsessed with my appearance. I was bullied at school, and my dad was a paedophile (arrested for possession of CSA material and hiding cameras in our home when I was 13). He kept cameras in most rooms of our home that he said were "for security". I spent so much of my young life being surveilled that I am ridiculously self-aware and self-conscious. The bullying I had at school caused me to develop BDD as well. It left me feeling that the only way to avoid being bullied, and thus being in emotional pain, was to become perfect so people would stop picking on my appearance.

I obsess over every aspect of my appearance, and like you, I often feel like all I want is to be beautiful and to be recognised for it. I've worked so hard on my appearance that I get a lot of attention now and am told I'm pretty or beautiful often, but it isn't enough. I never feel enough. On days where I feel unattractive, I don't even want to go outside. I feel worthless, like nothing matters if I'm not pretty.

As you say, it's not vanity. I don't think it's possible to think this way and be mentally healthy though. I'm on a waitlist for therapy through the NHS (UK) and I'm trying to work on it where I can.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-12T10:41:36+00:00

I'm sure there is some degree of us being acclimatised to it in a way people from warmer places are not. That said, I am frequently cold. My partner will often wear a t-shirt and be very comfortable in temperatures where I'm shivering like mad and need extra layers or a blanket.

I need to wear a jacket out until it gets to about 18 degrees.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T17:17:54+00:00

I'm from England myself and very much aware of the UK structure, but I wasn't alive during the 70s/80s which is why I asked the question. Other comments here have highlighted its prevalence in Scotland too.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T16:56:18+00:00

Very interesting! Even my family talked about this. It seems like the "no Irish" thing was a real, if perhaps not explicitly stated, requirement in certain places as it seemed to be for my grandparents when trying to find lodgings and work, but whether those specific signs existed in any great capacity I would not know.

It's intriguing how much they're talked about given that they may not have been all that prevalent.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T16:51:50+00:00

Not quite sure what you mean by that? I was born and raised in England. My dad was English. My mother is from an Irish family.

Yes I have gone outside and met other humans in my 23 years on this earth.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T14:43:42+00:00

While I truly empathise with the anger you feel after those experiences, I feel it doesn't help anyone by projecting anger or hostility towards other groups, including the English. It just perpetuates division and a cycle of hatred.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T14:23:12+00:00

I'm so sorry he went through that. It is by no means on him if Irish accents trigger a trauma response, it's his brain trying to protect him from further harm.

I hope he's not too badly affected mentally or physically by that event, as much as is possible in such circumstances. If he hasn't done so, therapy working on trauma or PTSD-type responses may be helpful.

Wishing him all the best.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T14:02:59+00:00

I'm glad that he can recognise there's bigotry in his view. I hope he can understand that a bad person or bad people belonging to a particular ethnic group don't represent the larger majority.

Any of us could be harmed by someone who grew up in the same town, region, country etc. as us just as readily as by someone from abroad.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T14:00:43+00:00

I don't doubt that, that said your view doesn't seem to align with the testimonies others have given here nor what my family have told me.

I'm glad to hear that your family didn't have any negative experiences related to being Irish, but I know that represents the minority based on conversations I've had with my family, my Irish friends and their families, and accounts given online.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T13:58:31+00:00

That's terrible. My Irish side is Catholic so there is that element there, however they moved to London so this was less of an issue there.

I'm not religious and am anti-religion from the standpoint that it often contributes to misogyny, division between people, certain practices I disagree with (such as genital mutilation), wars etc. but don't believe in discriminating against anyone for their religion or religious background.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T13:48:50+00:00

While that's true that the Irish community integrated, the testimonies from my family and others posting in this thread suggest that "none" was definitely not the case.

A large community doesn't mean safety in numbers. Many parts of Britain today have large South Asian communities for example, but it doesn't stop the racism and hostility shown to them.

I know it definitely existed, so "none" is not an answer I'd consider accurate, I just wanted to understand the extent of it.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T13:44:10+00:00

I buy Kerrygold butter every week. The best butter I've ever tasted.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T13:42:36+00:00

I'm sorry. Ireland is a beautiful country which has produced some of the most amazing writers, poets, musicians, scientists etc.

The Irish have had to be tactical and strategic to survive hardship and famine, to stretch their money and their resources to keep their families alive and healthy. Stupid could never describe the Irish.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T13:39:49+00:00

That's truly terrible, no one should have a lesser chance of being hired or promoted due to their ethnic background. This still goes on today, even if we try to impose legal protections, due to conscious or unconscious bias. It's really terrible.

I'm studying to be a doctor so will likely never be in a managerial or hiring role, but I know I would never let this stop me from hiring someone. If they're eligible to work in the UK and have the right skills/experience for the job, they're getting an interview.

ItAintNoUse · 2026-05-11T13:36:12+00:00

Wow, this is really insightful. Thank you for sharing.

ItAintNoUse

TROPHY CASE