While delegates from the University and College Union (UCU) held their annual congress in Glasgow over the holiday weekend last week, few noticed the ‘full time’ students working hard at Glasgow’s SECC venue. Although the delegates gave up their bank…
It seems many universities have started to arrive late to the ‘party’ of students in part-time jobs. Last week, Tom Williams wrote in Times Higher Education that the ‘Rise in working students ‘should prompt a radical teaching rethink’. He observed…
Sure enough the much needed House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee inquiry into the workings of the Office for Students has moved on since the end of April. For the OfS, April may have seemed the cruellest month, but now its May…
The idea of a graduate tax and radical reform of how universities are funded has come to the fore yet again. The Labour leadership has been far too shy in accepting that they have painted themselves into a corner on…
The Education Committee’s review of ‘The future of post-16 qualifications’ was released recently. It is comprehensive and it is taking time for the implications to sink in. It is highly critical of the government in promoting T-levels as an exclusive…
There is a slight detour this week to look at the political developments in Northern Ireland last week. On behalf of students today, TEFS asks the question, ‘What has the Good Friday Agreement done for us?’ The voices of reason…
A recent article in the Guardian from Adrian Chiles appears to encapsulate and reinforce public opinion on universities with ‘English students spend a fortune to go to university. Shouldn’t that buy them more teaching and less partying?’ It appears that…
UPDATE 1st April 2023 Today a Department for Education spokesperson has flatly denied that there are plans for a new university. In an official statement they made it clear that, “At first we were convinced this was a true story…
If any students, or universities and their staff, were expecting some assistance from the government in the budget last week, they were sadly disappointed. Students and their living costs are not mentioned. Instead, some families can expect limited respire on…
The worsening situation of increasing numbers of students coming under financial pressure and hardship is moving on fast. The defensive campaign for help seems to be advancing slowly by crawling while under fire. Yet advancing it is. Two more reports…
