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pimedia.org.uk news
MEDICS’ SUCCESS IN POETRY COMPETITION
The head of UCL’s Australian campus has been assured by the nation’s immigration department that it will benefit from relaxed student visa rules. David Travers, chief executive of the Adelaide-based UCL School of Energy and Resources, had expressed concern that changes announced after the recent Knight review of Australian student visas would not apply to his institution. Conditions set by the South Australian state government when the UCL school was established meant that the institution was not officially classed as an ‘Australian university’. As a result, it risked being placed at a competitive disadvantage when the Knight reforms – which included the streamlining of overseas visas and improved post- study work rights for foreign students – were implemented.
UCL LOW IN STUDENT DRINKING LEAGUE
New research from the studentbeans . Com Student Drinking Survey 2011 reveals that students at Leeds Metropolitan University drink the most units of alcohol per week whilst at university. The survey found that students at Leeds Metropolitan University drink on average 26.7 units a week, narrowly exceeding the consumption of Liverpool University (26.6). UCL is not featured in the top ten, and ranks at number 49 in the list, with students drinking an average 15.6 units per week. Amongst the top ten are the University of Bath, the University of Brighton and Newcastle University. Imperial College London is one of the lowest at 12.0 units per week. Wales featured prominently in the survey of students from over 60 universities in the UK, with the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff and the University of Glamorgan all featuring in the top five.
STUDENT SCHEME RE- LAUNCH IN 2012
The impact studentship scene will be re-launched in 2012, after proving remarkably effective in the last academic year. Impact awards support collaborative studentship projects with organisations such as charities, companies, government institutions and social enterprises. UCL part funds the studentships, contributing £32,535 towards the cost of a 3 year PhD. In 2010/11, it enabled the creation of 171 new PhD opportunities across UCL, 94 per cent of which were converted into match-funded studentships, with 67 per cent of the match-funding coming from charitable and industrial sources. The Provost’s senior management team recently reviewed the scheme, reaching the decision to continue it into 2011/12, with some changes made. Due to changes by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to their funding for postgraduate research, all awards will now provide funding for a maximum of three years.
December 2011 | Pi Newspaper
news@pimedia.org.uk
Then and now: crowds at UCL greet Queen Elizabeth II during her coronation tour in 1953. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is next year.
‘Squeezed middle’ of universities opt for cash incentives
Daniel Bowman
A NUMBER of universities around the country are introducing cash incentives in an attempt to compete with Russell Group universities for the brightest students. The payments will be non-means
tested academic awards, and will potentially spark a “scholarship arms race”. At City University London, scholarships of £3,000 will be paid to AAB+ students in each year of a three or four year degree, subject to them passing their university exams. Institutions such as the University of Leicester, Surrey and Northumbria are also offering cash incentives to attract students with the best exam grades. The incentives follow new
government rules allowing universities to accept an unlimited number of applicants with a minimum of As and a B at A-level (known as AAB+ students), starting from 2012. Universities risk losing funding if
they fail to attract as many top pupils as they do currently. If universities recruit a lower percentage of AAB+ students than they had the previous year, they lose funding for those students. Sir Steve Smith, Vice Chancellor
of Exeter University and former president of Universities UK, said earlier this year that these reforms would create dangerous competition for the brightest students. He expressed concerns that a “bidding war” could develop for the brightest students, as universities would do whatever they could to lower the cost of attending
university. However, as explained in the
Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) analysis of the Higher Education White Paper, the “squeezed middle” of universities will continue to suffer as a result of these payments. UCL has one of the highest
proportions of students with at least AAB at A-level, along with other Russell Group universities. But according to Bahram Hekhradnia, director of the HEPI, the “squeezed middle” of the university league tables are “vulnerable to losing some of their AAB+ students to more selective, more prestigious, institutions.” A study for the Daily Telegraph
earlier this year found that over half the total number of AAB+ students attend only 12 universities, including UCL.
Next year, UCL, along with many other universities, will be charging the top rate of fees of 9,000. A group of 27 universities have already had to announce lower fees, or now offer incentives in order to attract the same number of students as before. Critics of the AAB policy argue
that universities will be “fighting over” applicants who are already from advantaged backgrounds, by offering cash incentives to students. Claire Callender, professor of
Higher Education policy at Birkbeck College, London, said: “All the research from the US, which has a long history of purely merit-based scholarships, shows that they are to the advantage of middle and upper class white students, who are the ones who predominantly achieve the necessary test scores.”
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