by Becca Bashford | Oct 30, 2020 | CDBU Updates, Covid-19, Employability, Further education, Government, In the News, Marketisation, National Union of Students, News round-up, Opinion, REF, Scotland, Uncategorized, Wales
UCU have called for a judicial review of the government’s decision to ignore calls from its own Sage committee to move all non-essential teaching online and instead reopen campuses for face-to-face teaching. Sage advised the government that coronavirus outbreaks...
by Becca Bashford | Oct 16, 2020 | Academic freedom, Boris Johnson, Casual staff, CDBU Updates, Covid-19, Government, In the News, Marketisation, National Union of Students, News round-up, Opinion, Uncategorized, University governance
As Covid cases across the UK rise exponentially, universities have quickly become virus hotspots. Students forced into quarantine have reported feeling “abandoned” by their universities, raising concerns about the mental health crisis that might be...
by Becca Bashford | Sep 18, 2020 | Academic freedom, Casual staff, CDBU Updates, Covid-19, Free speech, Government, In the News, Marketisation, News round-up, Opinion, Scotland, Uncategorized, Universities UK
Once again, the return of staff and students to university campuses has dominated Higher Education news. UCU insist that the risks of spreading Covid-19 is still far too high, especially without proper Track and Trace and testing protocols in place. Meanwhile, the DfE...
by Becca Bashford | Sep 4, 2020 | A-levels, Covid-19, Further education, Government, In the News, Marketisation, News round-up, Ofqual, Opinion, Scotland, Uncategorized
As the government scrambles to save face after the A-levels fiasco, universities are preparing to reopen their campuses to staff and students. UCU have called on the government to halt in-person teaching completely, warning that the mass movement of over a million...
by Becca Bashford | Aug 22, 2020 | A-levels, Admissions, Casual staff, Covid-19, Further education, Government, In the News, Marketisation, News round-up, Ofqual, Opinion, Uncategorized, Unconditional offers, Widening access
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,...
by Becca Bashford | Jul 31, 2020 | Academic freedom, Covid-19, Free speech, Government, In the News, Marketisation, Opinion, Uncategorized, University governance
Words by Liz Morrish, independent scholar. One thing governments have learned over the last 30 years is not to let a disaster go to waste. In the guise of offering a survival strategy for universities in the pandemic, the Department for Education has issued a...
