NEW ON THE CDBU BLOG IN PURSUIT OF PREVENT – Words by John Holmwood, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Nottingham John Holmwood considers how the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill intersects with the government’s counter-extremism policy, in the light of recent leaks about the recommendations to be expected from the Shawcross...Read More

The government has announced a £50 million hardship fund for students who have been financially impacted by the pandemic. However, some feel more could be done to help students, with a group of vice-chancellors calling on the government to go further and waive student loan interest fees. New on the CDBU blog: Why Universities Should...Read More

After thousands of A-level and BTEC students were downgraded on results day, Gavin Williams and Ofqual – in a highly predictable U-turn – scrapped the algorithm and allowed students to use Centre Assessed Grades (teachers’ predictions) instead, allowing many to secure their university places. While this is excellent news for students, universities have been left...Read More

Statement from the Council for the Defence of British Universities on A-level results. English universities have been remarkably silent about the fiasco over Ofqual’s determination of A-level grades. Universities UK issued an extraordinarily misjudged statement on Thursday, stating that: “Students receiving their results today can be incredibly proud of their work and achievements in circumstances no-one could have...Read More

Ucas recently announced that UK universities had received a record number of applications over the lockdown period, despite growing concerns about the impacts of coronavirus on the higher education sector. Many universities are pushing ahead with devastating cuts, and comments from the Universities Minister have sparked a debate about the value of humanities subjects. Latest...Read More

This week, LSE launched their ‘SHAPE’ campaign which strives to promote the humanities and social sciences, students and staff joined forces to condemn the closure of the Philosophy programme at the University of the West of England and devastating cuts to the Literature department at the University of Portsmouth, and the government announced that EU...Read More

This week, universities continued to come to grips with the prospect of shifting online, raising questions about quality and accessibility. CDBU also expressed their support for disabled students who feel left behind amid Covid-19 chaos, and we have issued a call for ‘Manifestos for Change’ from institutions across the UK. NEW on the CDBU blog:...Read More

The government’s rejection of the multi-billion pound bailout needed to save universities has raised serious concerns for the future of higher education. Voluntary severance schemes have been introduced, graduate prospects look bleak, and the shift to online learning could see the poorest students left behind. Government refuses multi-billion pound bailout for universities – The Guardian,...Read More

As Covid-19 continues to inflict damage across the higher education sector and with the plea for a financial bailout falling on deaf ears, students and staff have come out in full force to highlight “inhumane” management practices and responses to the pandemic. NEW on the CDBU blog! ‘Don’t frighten the students’: the crisis of academic...Read More

The repercussions of Covid-19 are being felt across the higher education sector as Universities UK warn that without support some institutions risk collapse, students go on rent strike, and the REF and TEF are postponed indefinitely Universities UK: state bailout required to save institutions – Times Higher Education, Jack Grove, 10/04/2020 Some UK universities could...Read More