I never thought I’d see a student exchange programme trend on Twitter. People have told stories of studying and working abroad through Erasmus, sharing tales of friendships built, skills learned, and lives changed. Why? Because MPs voted against my amendment to keep the UK in Erasmus after the Brexit transition period. And people are angry….
Category: Students
Guardian University Guide 2020: find your subject
Accounting and financeThe league tableWhat the subject is about Agriculture, forestry and foodThe league tableWhat the subject is about American studiesThe league tableWhat the subject is about Anatomy and physiologyThe league tableWhat the subject is about AnthropologyThe league tableWhat the subject is about ArchitectureThe league tableWhat the subject is about ArtThe league tableWhat the subject…
Millions spent on ‘fake’ apprenticeships, says report
Hundreds of millions of pounds are being spent on “fake apprenticeships” that are just relabelled degrees or training courses, according to a report by a thinktank which says employers are abusing the current system. Since 2017 large companies have been forced to set aside the equivalent of 0.5% of their payroll to fund apprenticeships. But…
Erasmus scheme in chaos as UK students left in limbo
For Alice Watkins, a Manchester University student, a year in Paris, then Madrid, as part of her degree was a dream. Now, with the turmoil of Brexit, she is preparing to arrive in France this summer with nowhere to live and no idea whether the money will still be there to support her. “It’s horrible…
‘Students have a bad name’: how cities are healing the town v gown divide
Wild parties, chaotic flatshares and heavy drinking are viewed with affection as the youthful hijinks associated with university life – but not by everyone. With some universities rapidly expanding following the removal of the student numbers cap, these behaviours are fuelling a growing divide between students and their local communities. The past year has seen…
How to revise without ruining Christmas – by exam experts
There’s nothing quite so effective at quashing the Christmas holiday spirit as the spectre of January exams. But if you get organised, plan your exam prep and follow our tips from revision experts, you’ll be ready to ace your tests while still making time for some all-important relaxing. Here are the best revision methods. Keep…
‘Far too many are struggling’: are universities failing autistic students?
Matthew Moffatt, who is autistic, struggled when he started at De Montfort University. “When I saw how busy my lecture theatre was, it was terrifying,” he says. “My sense of panic is through the roof and I’m not very good at controlling it. It just builds really quickly – I start shaking and want to…
Spiralling rents consume increasing portion of student loans
University students in England are seeing their maintenance loans increasingly consumed by the rising cost of private-sector accommodation, with purpose-built rooms in London now averaging £1,000 more than the maximum loan. A survey of the student accommodation market carried out by the property consultants Cushman & Wakefield found that the average cost of en-suite private…
Next NHS staff shortages will include radiographers, as courses close
Radiography and nursing degree courses may be at risk of closure, academics are warning – at a time when the NHS is wrestling with a recruitment crisis. The Council of Deans of Health has now drawn up an “at risk” list of university courses struggling to attract and retain enough students following the removal of…
Staff warn of ‘intimidatory’ tactics at Liverpool University after strike
The University of Liverpool has told staff who went on strike over pay and pensions this week that they must catch up on missed work or risk penalties, despite already having their pay deducted over the eight-day industrial action. In an email sent by pro vice-chancellor Gavin Brown, members of the University and College Union…
Universities accused of using ‘strong-arm tactics’ to stop strike action
Universities have been accused of using “strong-arm tactics” to undermine strike action which threatens to cause widespread disruption at 60 campuses across the UK this week. More than 40,000 lecturers, technicians, librarians and other academic staff will walk out on strike for eight days from Monday over pension, pay and conditions, in a wave of…
UK academics face furious backlash for encouraging students to vote
When Carrie Paechter, a professor at Nottingham Trent University, tweeted two weeks ago that students could register to vote at both their home and term-time addresses, she didn’t anticipate the tirade of anger it would unleash. She was reported to the police and the Electoral Commission, and someone wrote to her vice-chancellor calling for her…
Student buildings still covered in Grenfell-style cladding
Thousands of students arriving at university for freshers’ week face sleeping in high-rise accommodation wrapped in combustible Grenfell-style cladding, the government has admitted. Fifty-four privately owned student residential towers in England remain clad in aluminium composite material similar to that which helped spread the fire at Grenfell Tower 15 months ago, claiming 72 lives. The…
‘Monolithically white places’: academics on racism in universities
An inquiry by the government’s equality watchdog has condemned universities for being oblivious to the scale of racism on their campuses. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report, has been widely welcomed for highlighting universities’ complacency on tackling racism. But the body has also been criticised by leading academics of colour and student leaders for…
‘Symbolically posh’ Bristol University expanding to wrong side of tracks
In the well-heeled district of Clifton in Bristol, with its Georgian crescents and French brasseries, 100% of school leavers go to university. Yet in the southern suburb of Hartcliffe, the figures are the lowest in the country: only 8.6% make it there. This is the divided face of Brexit Britain. Bristol University, part of the…
‘Stormzy effect’: record number of black Britons studying at Cambridge
The “Stormzy effect” has helped inspire record numbers of black British students to study at the University of Cambridge, following the musician’s high-profile backing of scholarships for black students at the institution. Cambridge said 91 black British students had been admitted as first-year undergraduates at the start of the academic year, an increase of nearly…
University league tables 2020
1 1 Cambridge 100 n/a n/a n/a 11.2 9.8 224 6 86 99 Satisfied with course n/a Satisfied with teaching n/a Satisfied with feedback n/a Student to staff ratio 11.2 Spend per student/10 9.8 Average entry tariff 224 Value added score/10 6 Career after 6 months 86 Contin-uation 99 2 3 St Andrews 97.9 93…
I returned to uni for freshers’ week 20 years after leaving. Here’s what has changed
In the autumn of 1997, I was a fresher at the University of Glasgow. Months after the Labour landslide, weeks after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, I was an 18-year-old British-Indian made up of equal parts teenage kicks, terror and Topshop – and on my way to Scotland for the first time, to…
What is Engagement?
Last Saturday we had a thunderstorm move through Seattle…we don’t get them very often around here so a storm with over 2200 lightning strikes is pretty crazy and awesome….but more than that…it was Mother Natures way of calling in Fall. Since then the temp as barley hit 70 degrees if we’re lucky and the low…
‘I became suicidal’: students accused of cheating by UK tell of ‘living hell’
Farzana Boby describes her life in Bangladesh as a “living hell”. She returned from London two years ago, having spent three years failing to overturn an allegation of cheating by the British government. Boby is one of thousands of international students forced to abandon their studies and return home who are awaiting the publication of…