News

Mark Harper shares with John Morgan some good and bad news for the sector on immigration policy

The number of students gaining first-class degrees has risen by almost 50 per cent over the past five years, data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency have shown

Oft-criticised scholarship scheme’s riches will now follow the poor, BIS states. Jack Grove reports

Until the age of slides and computer displays, printed wallcharts and three-dimensional models were essential teaching tools within universities. Many combined scientific accuracy with great beauty and artistic skill. These are just some of the most striking examples from the extensive collection held by the University of Dundee's museum.

Rise in staff submissions predicted despite tightened funding formula. Paul Jump reports

UCU set for tough talk over resources and strategy, general secretary Sally Hunt tells Jack Grove

Effort to halt male bias on event panels sparks controversy. Elizabeth Gibney and Paul Jump write

Essay-writing firm denies inconsistency in its director penning satirical novel. Paul Jump reports

Oft-criticised scholarship scheme’s riches will now follow the poor, BIS states. Jack Grove reports

Queen Mary, University of London, has created a professorial chair in animal replacement science.

The number of academics submitted to the research excellence framework is likely to exceed the number submitted to the last research assessment exercise, new figures suggest.

The UK’s move towards open-access publishing will inevitably place some learned societies’ journals into financial jeopardy, according to the chair of the committee that recommended making the transition.

INTO University Partnerships, which co-owns international student centres with several universities, has sold a 25 per cent stake of its business to a private equity firm for £66 million.

The government has announced that it will ease over-recruitment fines for universities and not cut 5,000 places from their allocations, while calling for "restraint" on staff pay.

By Scott Jaschik, for Inside Higher Ed

The UK's top 100 degree-level employers recruited fewer graduates than expected in 2012, while expected increases in the number of vacancies this year will still leave recruitment figures 11 per cent lower than pre-recession levels.

Two universities have collaborated to help launch a "university centre" in the south of England in an effort to boost people's access to higher education in the area.

The Reverend Peter Neil has been appointed the next vice-chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University, one of ten specialist institutions recently awarded university title.

The University of Buckingham is considering whether to take on Uganda students after it suspended a validation agreement in the country because of fears over freedom of speech regarding homosexuality.

The number of Indian students studying at UK universities fell by 24 per cent last year, as the government’s tightening of the student visa system took effect.

The number of UK students entering postgraduate study plunged by 8 per cent last year, new figures show.

Mainland recognition of foreign degrees taught in Hong Kong is key for UK, writes David Matthews

Matthew Reisz reports on the bursaries helping ex-thespians to pursue higher education goals

LHC maintenance crew turn into zombies in film by Cern-based student. Matthew Reisz reports

A sideways look at the week’s big stories

A court in Germany has given a “glimmer of hope” to inventors hoping to patent human embryonic stem cell technologies in Europe.

Anti-apartheid campaigner Albie Sachs has twice received a lifeline, writes David Matthews

School of Humanities bolsters Tsinghua’s ascent to global elite, Carolynne Wheeler hears in Beijing

Remuneration of Russell Group v-cs up as pension allowances approach ceiling. Jack Grove reports

Universities with lower entry requirements could be at greatest risk of losing students and millions of pounds in income under the new funding regime, data suggest.

It’s tough for minority academics, as evidence of discrimination attests. David Matthews writes

Call for European Union to establish output-tracking database. Paul Jump reports

A 17th-century priest's chasuble in hand-made gros point lace and a blue sample from a 20th-century design portfolio are among the objects, documents and artefacts, some 75,000 in number, held in the lace archive at Nottingham Trent University's School of Art and Design.

New loan-funding system may leave council unable to prevent over-recruitment, writes John Morgan

Nanoscientist waits three years to see critique of controversial ‘discovery’ printed. Paul Jump writes

David Willetts, the universities and science minister, has been attacked by a Tory colleague for showing "snobbishness" on university access and perpetuating an "authoritarian elitist fantasy" in his policies.

The proportion of staff submitted by each unit of assessment to the 2014 research excellence framework will become clear for the first time after the Higher Education Statistics Agency announced it will release statistics on the number of academics eligible to be submitted.

The government has appointed a reviewer to assess any appeals by universities against decisions taken by Les Ebdon, the director of fair access.

A university will this week welcome 90 academics from a single Japanese institution in what thought to be the biggest international symposium of its kind held in the UK.

The coalition government has praised universities as "the driving force behind our increasingly high-tech, knowledge-based economy" in its mid-term review.

The Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (Cara) has called for urgent support to be given to Syrian academics and students caught up in the country’s civil war.

A former researcher at the universities of Glasgow and Liverpool has been found guilty of serious scientific misconduct by his previous university in Singapore.

The fall in university applications could be "a societal turning-point" and the government must launch a national campaign to ensure higher education is seen as affordable, a vice-chancellor and former Labour higher education minister has warned.

University applicant numbers have continued to fall for the second consecutive year - with around 18,000 fewer people applying to higher education compared to the same time last year, new figures show.

Three-tier teaching bursaries for certain subjects may not work, says educator. John Elmes reports