DESIGN COURSES ARE FAILING EVERYONE

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

Harriet Richardson stopped guest lecturing on UK design courses because universities have become financially dependent on overseas students, prioritizing volume over viable learning conditions and creating environments where language barriers, oversized cohorts, and overstretched staff undermine critique-led education. She argues the problem is systemic rather than student-led, calling for more honest pathways that separate language learning from full degree programmes, fairer working conditions for educators, and course structures that genuinely support meaningful dialogue, learning, and exchange.