Nottingham University lecturer forced to apologise after branding students 'idiots' and 'semi-literate' on Facebook

As a result of the comments , students' essays will have to be re-marked

On January 14, Anthony Fisher also made light of a student's panic attacks

In a bizarre lecture on Tuesday, Fisher apologised to his students

The sociolinguistics lecturer also lashed out at Nottingham University's HR department





A university lecturer has been forced to apologise to his students after he branded them 'idiots' and 'semi-literate' on Facebook.

Anthony Fisher also lashed out at the Human Resources department at Nottingham University where he lectures in English, branding them 'absolute a*******s'.

As a result of his comments regarding students' work, the university has ordered that all their essays for the last module are remarked.

Lecturer Anthony Fisher was pictured publicly apologising in a second year Disclosure and Society lecture after calling students 'idiots'

The popular tutor, in his 40s, stunned his students when he launched a blistering attack on their work on his Facebook page last month.

He also bragged about not marking 50 essays during the Christmas holidays and joked about the panic attacks that affect one of his students.



On January 13, Fisher used Facebook to call one of his third year female students 'an idiot' before quoting from a phrase from their essay.

He wrote: 'She's an idiot, as the rest of her "essay" (and I use the word advisedly) confirms. She also said something about linguistic theory "consummating" towards an understanding of interruption.'

He said the points made in her essay were 'the result of semi-literacy,' joking: 'She's a creative genius.'

While marking the exams of the third year sociolinguistics module, Fisher quoted the first question of the paper and a student's answer, commenting: 'First answer on the exam script - it's not looking good kid.'

Apology: Mr Fisher is an English lecturer at the University of Nottingham

On January 14, Fisher also made light of a student having panic attacks.

He posted to his hundreds of followers: 'Does anyone know the name of over the counter herbal sweets that have a mild sedative effect?. It's not for me but for a student having panic attacks!'

Facebook friends of Fisher posted their comments on the status, with one suggesting that he should 'tell him to have 4 pints and a spliff' which he then ‘liked'.

Fisher also poked fun at the excuses students gave him for missing his tutorials and lectures, moaning about 'some of the crap students come out with.'

He wrote his 'favourite so far' was receiving an email 'from a Chinese student who had missed class and emailed...to explain that he had been to "crazy party"'.

'IT WAS MEANT TO BE PRIVATE': ANTHONY FISHER'S RESPONSE In a statement issued by Anthony Fisher, he said: 'I would like to stress that I had been posting on Facebook in the belief that my profile page and comments were accessible only to friends, and indeed have a recollection of trying to alter my privacy settings in this way some months ago. 'Clearly, I made a mistake when altering my settings, and my profile page was in fact public all along. I fully accept that even in a private context, these comments are wholly inappropriate and, with the benefit of hindsight, I deeply regret posting them. 'However, it was never my intention that these comments should be seen by any other than a handful of personal friends. In this private context, the comments in question were not intended as criticisms of individual students, or of the student body as a whole. 'I can only describe them as a way of letting off steam when under pressure, usually due to marking deadlines. Of course, this is not how they appear, and the explanation I offer here in no way excuses me from responsibility for my actions. Nor does it erase the distress that my actions have caused.' 'I have always taken my responsibilities as a tutor very seriously and deeply regret that my relationship with my students has been undermined by Facebook posts and comments that were never intended for a public audience. 'I very much hope that this explanation and apology go some way towards alleviating any anxiety and distress experienced by the students concerned, to whom I most sincerely apologise.'

He added: 'He failed the module and the re-sit.'

Fisher also caused anger when he joked on Facebook about 'ignoring' his students' essays over the Christmas break.

On January 5 he wrote: 'Damn it, the 50 odd sociolinguistics essays that I have been ignoring all through the holidays appear not to have marked themselves in my absence. And I was so sure that they would.'

He said that the 'marking fairy is a lazy b*****d' and 'a fat, hungover, idle marking fairy - what good is that to anyone?'

During the university's six week Christmas holiday, Fisher even bragged about using marking days for cleaning his bicycle and baking bread.

On January 19 he wrote: 'Today has been a marking day. As a result of this, my bike is sparkling clean and has new tape on the handlebars, and we have not one but two fresh loaves baking in the oven.'

Fisher, who is taking up a teaching post at University of York St John, also attacked the Human Resources department claiming they refused to let him out of his contract early.

According to student newspaper the Nottingham Tab, he also said the university's HR team were 'intransigent, dogmatic, completely unreasonsable and absolute a*******s'.

In a bizarre lecture on Tuesday, Fisher apologised to his students, and put the word ‘Idiot' up on a large projector.

According to The Tab, he told his students: 'There's one idiot in the room, and that's me.'

But his apology was not accepted by the university, who said his behaviour was 'completely unacceptable'.

A spokesman for the University said: 'The [English] school greatly regrets this incident.

'It views the behaviour of Tony Fisher as completely unacceptable and wholly out of character with the teaching ethos of the school.

'The quality of student experience is our first priority. All student complaints are taken very seriously, and this complaint is currently being addressed.

'In the meantime, the school can reassure students that Tony Fisher will no longer be involved in any assessment procedures in the school; and all assessed work for the module in question will now be remarked.