Students

Questions are raised about whether colleges have outgrown the university’s federal structure

Undergraduate-led learning environment is eroding academics’ authority, Jack Grove writes

The divisive country-club culture at ‘Midwest University’ that places status above study and raises partying to a vocation

Andy Westwood and Martin Doel map a route between FE and HE

College leaders have voted to scrap the University of London Union after backing a review which said the student union’s federal structure was outdated and offered poor value for money.

Two-minute blasts from students’ own music collections to allow dancing in lectures every 20 minutes is one of the techniques being employed by a university to encourage less sedentary behaviour while learning.

The University of Manchester has equalled the record for University Challenge wins after beating University College London in last night’s final

Informal group admits reform will require more work than previously thought

The LSE’s complaints about being kept in the dark about undercover reporting in North Korea are peevish, Tim Luckhurst argues

Geraldine Van Bueren says international law could help opponents of rising tuition costs in their battle

The Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2013 shows a responsive attitude and landmark infrastructure projects help to create contentment. Elizabeth Gibney reports

The viva, the final hurdle to gaining a PhD, is labour-intensive, not conducted to any national standard and is dreaded by students who fear an examiner will capriciously halt their career. Is it still fit for purpose? asks Elizabeth Gibney

The proportion of young people accessing higher education hit a record high of 49 per cent as students scrambled to avoid last year’s tuition fee hikes, a new study says.

The University of Leicester has launched an investigation into a public lecture held by its student Islamic society after pictures of signs at the event suggested that men and women were encouraged to sit separately.

Incoming National Union of Students president Toni Pearce has acknowledged that sections of the organisation’s membership are dissatisfied with its direction, and is determined to bring them back on board.

Affluent students who miss out on elite places ‘hyper-mobilise’ to retain status

European ombudsmen must share best practice to improve resolution of students’ grievances, advocates Rob Behrens

Toni Pearce has been elected as the next president of the National Union of Students, promising to fight for “a movement where students’ unions are leading from the front and aren’t just an afterthought”.

London Metropolitan University will again be allowed to recruit international students after the Home Office ended the revocation of its visa licence.

Students today face a “triple-dip recession” consisting of a lack of jobs, opportunities to study and future prospects, according to the president of their national union.

National Union of Students’ president Liam Burns has called for “sensitivity” and “respect” after some delegates at the union’s annual conference were heard to cheer news that former prime minister Baroness Thatcher had died.

Part-time study needs “unprecedented support” to help kick-start the UK’s flagging economy, Labour peer Baroness Bakewell has said.

Three unions at the University of Sussex have begun the process that could lead to strikes over outsourcing plans at the university.

The continent’s burgeoning economies could prove a major source of future student recruitment, says Marguerite Dennis

‘Social engineering’ might be needed to help integrate international students, Sheffield pro v-c says

Cases of serious cheating fall by 60 per cent, company says

An occupation of the Bramber House conference centre at the University of Sussex has ended following a High Court ruling.

Many students will “defend to the death” the need for traditional campus-based lectures, and will only delve into the world of free online educational resources if instructed to by their teachers, a conference has heard.

The University of Sussex is still waiting to see if it will be able to evict protesters from an occupation on the campus after a decision at the High Court was adjourned. 

The University of Sussex has been granted an injunction that it says will pave the way towards ending the seven-week occupation of its Bramber House conference centre.

Students and academics need to be much more involved in the management and improvement of universities if the future of higher education is to be safeguarded.

Three-quarters of Russell Group universities are failing to meet benchmarks on numbers of state school pupils, according to new figures.

Outspoken MP George Galloway has tabled an early day motion calling for a University of Oxford college to reinstate a library invigilator who was sacked for failing to stop students film an internet dance video in her library.

Ministers advised to reverse ban on second degree funding

Despite hard times and fruitless protest, there is still power in a union, argues David Reed

Tutor warns of efforts to ‘sucker’ applicants as institutions game system

Steve Sarson’s first-years were tasked with a CV exercise on study time, so he reminded them of the alternatives to the market

Justice has been poorly served by the bloody-minded determination of the state to prosecute anti-fees demonstrators, argues Martin McQuillan

Campaigners at the University of Sussex plan to host a national demonstration against privatisation in higher education.

A librarian at a University of Oxford college has reportedly lost her job after a group of 30 students filmed an internet dance video in the library.

The University of the West of England has opted not to close its politics and international relations department after a campaign by students and staff to save it.

THE podcast hears rallying cry for sector: play up and let students play the game

David Matthews meets a Syrian doctoral student at a UK university who is struggling to secure her future

More than half of female students identify “prevailing sexism, ‘laddism’ and a culture of harassment” at their universities, according to a survey by the National Union of Students.

Don’t ‘turn blind eye’ to excessive boozing, heads tell universities

Add grade point averages to honours classification for a better snapshot of student achievement, says John Raftery

A writer on human behaviour has urged universities to encourage herd behaviour in their attempt to attract students rather than deploying rational argument.

State cuts lead sector to impose ‘arbitrary’ student targets. Phil Baty reports from New Orleans

‘Grade grubbing’ may be on increase as student entitlement grows in high-fees era

NUS finds ‘illegal’ pay conditions in some universities. Elizabeth Gibney reports

Institutions need not subject international students to biometric attendance monitoring, agency reveals

But it continues with court case seeking to overturn home secretary’s decision to revoke Highly Trusted Sponsor status last year

Private university’s new course awaits General Medical Council approval as critics decry projected £144,000 price

Gove’s former top civil servant criticise coalition’s ‘naive’ emphasis on Russell Group

Confused political rhetoric on student visas threatens one of the UK’s greatest global assets, says Martin Davidson

University partnerships with broadcasters in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Oxfordshire allows those on journalism courses to hone skills

Canadian company Lashzone sent mass emails to UK universities in bid to establish ‘secret’ franchises on campuses

US-style scheme will feature alongside degree classifications in UK first

But private pupils do not suffer discrimination, expert argues

Higher education is not compulsory, and in an environment of rising costs and scepticism on both sides of the Atlantic, growing numbers are becoming increasingly vocal about the other options. Jon Marcus reports