Tougher guidelines are to be issued to warn universities against manipulating the results of a league table of student satisfaction. The Higher Education Funding Council says it will issue the guidelines for the next National Student Survey. Lecturers at Kingston University were revealed to have told students only to put positive comments in this official national survey. The Cambridge students' union now says it doubts the survey's credibility. The guidelines are expected to warn universities that they must not try to influence how students complete this annual survey.
Manchester may lower entry grades
One of the UK's largest universities is considering lowering its entry requirements for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Manchester University says a systematic approach is needed to identify the best students from all backgrounds. A report from its vice-chancellor Alan Gilbert suggests a transparent admissions system with a range of entry grades and differential offers. Universities are being urged to take more students from poorer families.
League tables missing key issue
League tables strongly influence English universities, despite doubts over the way they are complied. They have been accused of not concentrating on issues that are important for students. Five tables were analysed for a study undertaken by the Centre for Higher Education Research and Information at the Open University in an attempt to gauge the tables importance. University leaders say there is still insufficient transparency about the way these are put together. The tables examined included the Sunday Times Good University Guide and the Guardian University Guide, as well as two publications from abroad. The report, called Counting what is measured or measuring what counts?, published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England during its annual conference, argued that despite problems there was clearly the demand for their tables.
Professor warned for revealing student's details
A senior academic at Lancaster University has received a written warning for making 'illicit disclosures' after he responded to a mother's complaint about her son's tuition. Professor Geraint Johnes, head of Lancaster's economics department, breached data protection rules by providing personal information about a student, Christian Gardner, to his mother. Johnes was told he would face disciplinary action for any future breaches. According to the Times Higher Education magazine, Johnes responded to a letter Gardner wrote to the university in April to complain that her son, a first-year economics student, had to attend only three hours of lectures a week. The professor replied, listing the student's modules and explaining he had at least four hours' weekly contact time plus regular project meetings.
Mass entry threatens university standards
Mass entry to higher education risks compromising teaching quality as funding becomes stretched, according to the vice-chancellor of Manchester University. Professor Alan Gilbert said the rising number of undergraduates had placed 'inexorable pressures' on universities 'to do more for less.' Last year, 40% of school-leavers went on to higher education, but ministers want to increase the rate to at least 50%. Universities are being asked to focus outreach programmes on state schools and people from deprived backgrounds to boost applications.
Suicide project student takes own life
A student who was carrying out a project photographing where people had committed suicide was found hanging from a tree, an inquest has heard. Christian Drane's body was discovered in woods in the Polygon area of Southampton, Hampshire, on 16 March 2008. The 21-year-old, originally from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was studying at the city's Southampton Solent University. A verdict that Mr Drane took his own life was recorded on Friday. Policeman Sam Weller told the inquest that friends had told him that they knew no reason why the student, who had a part-time job at a Walkabout bar, would take his own life.
Sticky problem targeted
Gum-chewing students are the latest targets of a Lancashire city's anti-litter campaign. Preston City Council is installing new gum boards where people can stick their used chewing gum, rather than throw it on the pavement. A total of 20 GumTargets are being fixed to lampposts in Friargate Brow, near the university area. A similar campaign in 2006 and 2007 helped to reduce gum litter in the city centre by 80%, the council said. The boards are fitted with tear-off sheets, which mean the gum can be removed by street cleaners when the target is full.
International students cluster
International students often cluster together at particular universities. For the French and Spanish students, it's the North East Wales Institute. For the Chinese, it's Loughborough University. For the Irish and Nigerians, it's the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency reveals the universities with the largest communities of foreign students, and shows that Nottingham is a hit with students from Hong Kong, and Canadians flock to Oxford University. Poles flock to the University of Westminster, Malaysians to Sheffield Hallam University and Indians to the University of Greenwich.
Applications are on the up
Figures released today by the University and Colleges Admissions Service show that the number of applicants to UK universities and colleges is up 7.8% on the same point last year. 481,784 people have applied to start courses this autumn so far compared with 446,765 at the same point last year. This includes 10,482 midwifery and nursing applicants who are applying through UCAS for the first time. Law remains the preferred subject choice followed by psychology and pre-clinical medicine. Design studies has risen up the subject table since January to fourth place, followed by management studies in fifth.
Students deterred by geeky image of maths
The 'geeky' image of maths and mathematicians stops people from studying the subject or using it in later life, according to research published today. The survey, part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study, shows that students think of mathematicians as old, white, middle-class men who are obsessed with their subject, lack social skills and have no personal life outside maths. Students' views of maths itself included narrow and inaccurate images that are often limited to numbers and basic arithmetic and are largely based on a negative portrayal of the subject in popular culture, the research found.
Fears for the future
New research will reveal the extent of British youth's top fears for the future including debt, unemployment, binge drinking and violent crime. The Agents4Change poll, conducted by research giant Ipsos MORI, has revealed the issues today's 16 - 25 year olds are most concerned about and how they can take action to help combat their fears. The research tracks young people's views on obesity, violent crime, drug use, binge drinking, debt, global warming, unemployment, racial tension and sexually transmitted infections. It will also show striking trends between different regions.
UNITE, the UK's largest provider of student accommodation and hospitality, and accommodationforstudents.com, the student accommodation website, are taking student accommodation online facilities to new levels. UNITE offers students in the UK more than 38,000 homes to rent during the academic year in over 30 University towns and cities. Now, with a new £6 million online booking system, www.unite-students.com is giving students far more choice and flexibility. Students can view accommodation that suits their price point and take virtual tours of the properties on their computer. They can book individually or with friends, and can access profiles of their future housemates.
Universities face survey warning