Sir David thinks ignorance is no excuse. He believes that the governors should have asked questions about the student drop-out rate and the shambolic data collection. The university's excuse for the poor data was that it had two systems to reconcile as a result of the merger of the University of North London and London Guildhall University in 2002 to form London Met. But that merger was seven years ago. The university had industrial action for a year after that. But that is no excuse either. Other ( Read more... )
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Our government and its lower layers is becoming obsessively prescriptive about how UK universities should behave. This is damaging. It will do the reverse of what is intended. The latest attempt is in the design of something called the REF. This will be unreliable and is suitably named ? I write this article after the handball, missed by the referee, by Thierry Henry that put Ireland out of the World Cup.

The acronym stands for the Research Excellence Framework. I don't ( Read more... )
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While starting your working life cold-calling households in search of a 25 per cent commission on sales of scent and lipstick might seem a comedown from the graduate traineeship you had earmarked in law or accountancy, Avon insists you'll gain transferable skills that could prove vital in your future career.

Richard Pinnock, executive sales director of the New York-based company's UK arm, said: "Becoming a self-employed Avon representative is a great opportunity for ( Read more... )
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"Comments like this are a form of snobbery, often from people who don't want to acknowledge the great work in the profession," says Keen, "Nursing is one of the hardest jobs out there ? physically, mentally and emotionally ? and nurses are proud of all the work they do. It's an insult to belittle their role in this way."

Like it or not, nursing no longer fits our nostalgic stereotypes. The image of the bustling rosy-cheeked lady with the bedpan has long passed. In its place, a new generation ( Read more... )
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This is the conclusion of a report published today by the think-tank, the Higher Education Policy Institute, which finds that Oxbridge is unmatched when it comes to the ability of its students and the achievement of its graduates.It clearly produces many of the leaders in society as evidenced by the number of graduates in Who's Who and the number of professors who have been to Oxbridge. We should not be surprised because the universities have a significantly higher income than ( Read more... )
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Instead of correcting their scripts in the traditional way, by making comments in the right hand margin and giving them a mark, he created a video of himself going through each one. This was a piece of cake for Stannard, who is principal lecturer in multimedia/ICT at the University of Westminster. "It allows you to record the screen of your computer as if you had a camera pointing at it," he explains. Each of the students, who were taking an English language course, had their ( Read more... )
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Like any good pensioner, I despair of the young. As I write, it's the end of October and the latest entrants to this accelerated ageing process have settled in ? even if they haven't blended in. First years are an extremely easy creature to spot.

On campus, they're the ones who haven't perfected the dead-eyed, middle-distance stare required to get through hoards of pamphleteers without being accosted. Once one pamphleteer gets a leaflet in their hands, the others will swoop down on them, ( Read more... )
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Although there have been no gang-related killings in Manchester for at least a year following the jailing of the Gooch Gang, no one is complacent that the multiracial area of Moss Side, in which many students live, has turned a corner. There is new optimism, however, and the city's leaders must be hoping that its position at the top of this year's crime league table does not mark a new trend.

The second most crime-ridden city is Nottingham, followed by Liverpool, Bristol ( Read more... )
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As good academics, the Cambridge team begin by attempting to decide what primary education is for, essentially by seeking to describe the optimally functioning 21st-century pupil. This becomes an analytical tour de force in which 12 aims such as "well-being", "engagement" and "empowerment" are meshed with eight domains including "arts and creativity", "citizenship and ethics", and "faith and belief".

The review can't quite make up its mind whether the content of the resulting ( Read more... )
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Much has been said and written about the growing problem of plagiarism, but most of it comes from the wrong angle. Whenever academics come together to discuss the matter, it is with the attitude of "search and destroy": the concern is merely to detect and punish offenders. It's all stick, no carrot. But the question of why so many students feel the need to plagiarise in the first place is seldom addressed.

There are two types of academic plagiarism. One is where the student ( Read more... )
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Despite all that, he has been thinking hard about what Queen Mary needs and has come up with ideas that he intends to put into effect as quickly as decently possible in the slow-moving higher education universe.

Queen Mary, once described as at the arse-end of the University of London, has been zooming up the domestic research league table ? up from 45th to 11th in the last Research Assessment Exercise ? and Professor Gaskell wants to consolidate its position.

( Read more... )
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People assume I'm deranged (or just a bit simple) when I mumble my reason for studying history: I enjoy it. I like reading and writing about history. Basically, I'm doing a hobby degree. "But what will you do with a history degree when you graduate?" is often the next question. I ignore the temptation to answer "Frame it", and give a sensible reply. "Gordon Brown did history; I could follow in his successful footsteps."

Students are just as bad. There's a strict hierarchy at university when ( Read more... )
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In four years' time, the university hopes to have built up its Stockton campus to a total of 5,000 students, double the current number (as well as 15,000 in Durham itself), many of whom will be studying new subjects to address the region's skills shortages.

New buildings will go up. There will be a new law school, a centre for student services and the new structures will house the university's headquarters.

The new subjects could include film studies and environmental ( Read more... )
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While, as you say, Durham excels in the humanities, we are also one of the leading universities for science. Durham was one of the first UK universities to offer science and engineering degrees, and we were recently placed first in Europe and fourth globally for space-science research.

We have no plans to build an independent medical school. Durham University works closely with Newcastle University to plan undergraduate medical education. The Newcastle Medical School is ( Read more... )
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But I can reveal that the Coggon report has failed to satisfy the relations of those who died, who will now look to the coroner's court, and perhaps then the High Court. Solicitor Liz Graham, a campaigning Manchester lawyer, who represents some of the relations, has written to the coroner to say that Professor Coggon's report is deeply flawed.

The university, which appointed Professor Coggon, made his remit far too narrow, she has told the coroner, and the report fails adequately to cover ( Read more... )
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Although Mancat is identified as the main sponsor, the further education college is not putting up any hard cash. Instead, its support will come in the form of teaching time, materials and expert planning for the new curriculum.

Previously, private companies and other sponsors have paid a minimum of £2m to back an academy. Just a few days before entering Number 10, Gordon Brown said colleges and universities should be able to support the academies programme without finding such large sums.

According ( Read more... )
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But are open days really worth the train fare? Are they a good way of choosing where to spend the next three or four years of your life? And if so, how can students get the most out of them?

There are as many different reasons to choose one university over another as there are students to fill them, but for many applicants it is still important to feel secure about their choice. Open days can sway close decisions and even help motivate you towards exams by giving you a clearer picture of ( Read more... )
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The National Union of Students has described the cuts as "offensive" but other commentators are approving. Both the Russell Group of leading research universities and the 1994 Group of small but elite institutions have welcomed the report. Certainly, the received wisdom among a number of respected university finance experts is that higher fees are needed to ensure that universities are properly funded and to encourage a marketplace. Raising the fees' cap to £5,000 a year from ( Read more... )
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Last week, Shaw took part in an open day at Oxford, along with more than 100 other black GCSE students. The aim is to demystify the university for black students from inner-city schools, banish the idea that you have to be rich or white to go there, and get them used to all that sandstone. It was Shaw's first visit to the town. "It's so different from London," he says. "It's a lot quieter - it reminded me of a village - and there's so much history to it."

It is hard to imagine ( Read more... )
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Once the preserve of a handful of schools, there are now 196 institutions authorised to teach the IB in the UK, while 107 more are on the road to gaining authorisation, and another 100 have expressed interest in running it.

Parents need to prepare thoroughly if students are to make the most of the IB, says Terry Hedger, principal of Southbank International School, for over 20 years one of the UK's leading providers of the qualification.

"I suspect that some schools have gone in a ( Read more... )
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