England’s universities follow “a teaching year that mimics the medieval agricultural and religious cycle”, as one professor puts it. “Anything outside Monday to Friday from late September to May – and three weeks off at Christmas and Easter – has to be the subject of special deals and usually higher pay.”

But now Whitehall is trying to drag universities from the 11th century into the 21st, with a radical paper that speaks of courses with a timetable and content that suits business demands – reaching its apogee in a proposal for 48-week degrees. “This would require something of a revolution,” says the professor.