Science and engineering subjects are often presented as better career choices for students than the arts or humanities. Nicky Morgan, the education secretary, recently said that STEM subjects – sciences…
Welcoming international students used to be one of the key ways that Britain developed long-term, soft power relationships to aid trade and wield political influence. One in ten current global leaders…
Four years on, anger at tuition fees hasn’t gone.
ucloccupation
As we approach the UK general election in May 2015, a number of options are on the table for politicians considering the future of university tuition fees. The parties have not yet fully set out their…
When students pay companies to write essays for them, the work they receive in return is often of poor quality. That’s the main finding of new research released by schools exam regulator Ofqual into companies…
New students at Cambridge must now take workshops in sexual consent.
caffinehit
Cambridge and Oxford announced the introduction of compulsory workshops on sexual consent for first-year students just a few weeks before the start of the new academic year. According to Cambridge, the…
How many freebies can you carry?
Nottingham Trent University
Over the next few weeks there will be many nervous people across the country ready to embark upon a new chapter in life: university. For many young people going to university means moving away from home…
Here at the University of Edinburgh, freshers’ week has just seen a new cohort of students moving into the city. As older students jostled through freebie-stuffed stalls scrabbling for the newcomers’ attention…
Waiting to go off.
Student debt via PathDoc/Shutterstock
According to a new pamphlet issued by the Social Market Foundation, “the Tories’ student loan system that finances our universities, voted through by the Lib Dems, is a timebomb waiting to go off”. The…
Hanging on every word.
Nottingham Trent University
In the current rush to achieve the highest student satisfaction and best positions on university league tables we are at significant risk of dumbing down what’s being taught at universities. At both traditional…
There are blue skies at the end of Clearing.
Man and laptop via Dean Drobot/Shutterstock
You’ve got your A Level results and things are not how you imagined they would be. Maybe you didn’t do as well as you thought you would. Or maybe you didn’t think you wanted to go to university but now…
Sweaty-palmed and reciting facts over and over in their heads, the hordes of university and school students sitting down to exams this month will have precious little time to think about how their exam…
Oxford’s dons need to get ready for some new thinking.
lukecanvin
When it comes to debating the rights and wrongs of public policies, economists have always held a privileged position. While citizens and less respected social scientists must strive to get their voices…
Start them young.
Popova Valeriya. Moscow gallery image via Shutterstock.com
The public response to a recent article in the Guardian on a campaign for more children to study art history at school left me thinking about what more we can do to shrug off stereotypical views of the…
First-year university students too often feel alone and unsupported at their campus.
AAP/Julian Smith
Starting first year at university can be a daunting experience and a big adjustment for new students. Some adjust easily and thrive. As many as one third do not and think about leaving. If first year goes…
There are now many sites that allow students to “review” their lecturers – but is this a good thing?
shutterstock
A number of years ago as a PhD student, I was told that you must “publish or perish”. The advice was clear: teaching should be secondary in any considerations. Instead, I should prioritise producing as…
Australian student activism has changed and diminished over the years, but why?
Brian Oakley
With a Coalition government in power, the issue of student political activism is firmly back on the agenda. Education minister Christopher Pyne has stated that he would like to make the current compulsory…
Students with disabilities are still being left out at mainstream schools.
Child with a disability image from www.shutterstock.com
I was shocked when the local preschool teacher asked me when my son was coming to preschool… I had no idea he was even permitted to attend the local preschool. Those are not the words of a mother during…