Policy Update

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This week it was announced that Labour MP Gordon Marsden, who under his roles as both Shadow Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills and Shadow Minister for Education, has been given responsibility for universities.

Monday

Graduate Destinations

An interesting comment piece in the Independent explores how statistics on universities’ employability rates mean very little.  Statistics on universities’ employability rates mean little. What matters is your background (The Independent).

Campus Extremism

Sally Hunt, General Secretary of the UCU, outlines opposition to the anti-extremism measures that came into force on Monday 21 September in UK colleges and universities. ‘Universities must not shy away from difficult subjects’ (The Daily Telegraph).

Tuesday

Refugee Crisis

A group of academics have written an open letter to university Vice-Chancellors calling on them each to create five undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships and bursaries for students fleeing violence and war. British universities should create bursaries for students fleeing violence and war, say academics, (The Independent).

Wednesday

Student Maintenance Grants

The NUS have announced they are taking legal action against the government over the scrapping of student maintenance grants. They are demanding that the government meets their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. We’re taking legal action against the government. (NUS).

Thursday

Graduate Premium

Graduates earned between £10,000 and £14,000 more in their early careers than people of a similar age who did not go to university, a study by researchers from Cambridge and Harvard Universities and the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found. It revealed the graduate premium is bigger for women than men. Graduate salary premium ‘bigger for women’ (THE).

Student Loans

The Sutton Trust has said that freezing the £21,000 earnings threshold for repaying student loans in England would cost graduates an extra £2,800 over 30 years. Women would be more affected than men, with those from poor background hit hardest. Freezing loan threshold ‘would cost students thousands’ (BBC News).

Friday

Admissions

UCAS figures have revealed that enrolments at UK universities have climbed to a record high, with students holding vocational qualifications driving a significant portion of that growth. Admissions to UK universities hit record high (THE).

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