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University places are up for grabs in Clearing – but students are not the winners
The fall in applications has led to fierce competition between universities, a drop in income and an uncertain future for both students and staff, argues Professor GR Evans The A-level results are out. Applicants are getting to grips with fending for themselves in...
read moreNews round-up: ‘Universities battle over a shrinking pool of applicants’: the number of students applying to university drops again
A rise in unconditional offers and arguments over student loans have dominated the higher education new in the past month Call to rethink China branch campuses over academic freedom risks Times Higher Education, 02/08/2018, Ellie Bothwell Western universities have...
read moreEnglish higher education in pursuit of income: the consequences
Guest post by Prof G.R.Evans In the last few years there have been radical changes in the way English higher education is funded and regulated. That has had negative consequences not only for students but also at the receiving end of funding, where higher education...
read moreWill Unistats sink the TEF? We live in hope
Now that all the data used to inform TEF ratings is publicly available, argues Professor D V M Bishop, TEF itself becomes redundant I have been vocal in my criticism of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF): its rationale is disingenuous, it is based on measures...
read moreNews round-up: Half of all academics suffer from stress-related mental health problems – but there is good news for EU students
More evidence that an academic career is highly stressful, while the UKRI counts the cost as it fails to register as a charity Half of UK academics ‘suffer stress-linked mental health problems’ Times Higher Education, 06/07/2018, Jack Grove About half of all UK...
read moreThe new REF: biased, unaccountable and unchallengeable
Changes to the 2021 Research Evaluation Framework will increase the stress on academics and strengthen the hand of the managerial elite, argues Josh Robinson, lecturer in English literature at Cardiff University Two of the changes implemented for the 2021 Research...
read moreNews round-up: Ditch predicted grades for university admissions
A think tank attacks grade inflation, while a new study calls for an end to the UK admissions system based on predicted A-level grades Too many firsts risk universities’ credibility, says think tank BBC, 21/06/2018 Universities risk losing their credibility due to...
read more‘Poor value’ doesn’t mean poor quality
Media coverage of a recent student survey suggested higher education was poor value for money. But, asks Professor David Midgley, what does ‘value for money’ actually mean to students? The announcement of the 2018 Student Academic Experience Survey (SAES) by the...
read moreNews round-up: Are coroners obscuring the number of student suicides?
The mental health of both academics and students comes under scrutiny, and a survey shows that most students don’t feel they are receiving value for money when it comes to teaching Cardiff plans review after suicide of ‘overworked’ lecturer Times Higher Education,...
read moreWhen is a loan not a loan? When it’s a student loan…
The use of terms like ‘loan’ and ‘debt’ to describe student finance are completely misleading, argues Professor Dorothy Bishop In February 2018, the House of Commons Treasury Committee published a remarkable report entitled ‘Student Loans’. A response by government,...
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