The week in higher education – 12 September 2024

While “university essentials” once included sheets, pots and cutlery as well as a stockpile of beer for freshers’ week, it seems a new addition has made its way on to school-leavers’ shopping lists: air fryers. The Guardian reported that online searches for the latest must-have kitchen gadget rose by 21 per cent at John Lewis as students prepared for the new academic year. Meanwhile, more traditional items including pillows, duvets and mattress protectors saw their sales increase by 30 per cent. The retailer is one of many providing students with an “off-to-uni checklist’; its includes games consoles, a TV and a smart speaker. On the list compiled by the clothing firm Urban Outfitters is an extra-large Miffy lamp, at £169, plus a Taylor Swift crochet kit and a carafe set. “Obviously, they’re going to stretch the definition of ‘essential’ to try to make you buy things that you don’t necessarily need,” said Save the Student’s Tom Allingham.

Having spent years attacking British universities as illiberal hotbeds of left-wing wokery, the Daily Mail is having a remarkable change of heart. Last month’s effusive editorial pointing out that universities bring “benefits to Britain’s towns and cities beyond the lecture theatre”, which even stated that “foreign students are most welcome”, gave notice of a shift in tone. Now the publication has doubled down on its higher education love-in by launching its own university rankings. Based on the familiar metrics of student satisfaction, graduate outcomes, research quality and entry standards, the Mail’s ranking also tracks the number of first-in-family students – a social mobility measure that some publications might regard as excessively woke. The newspaper also launched some awards, with its inaugural university of the year winner being the University of Leicester, an institution regarded by some as one of the sector’s more left-leaning institutions. Academics won’t mind too much if it means fewer HE-bashing stories from the Mail, which until recently was only too happy to throw its weight behind Rishi Sunak’s campaign against “rip-off degrees”.

Elsewhere, the “war on woke” has continued apace, with two further flashpoints adding to a long list of popular media coverage. The University of Leeds was criticised for urging students to use the terms “guardian” or “carer” instead of “mum” and “dad” – “to avoid assumptions about biological parents”. The university said its inclusive language guide aims to foster a more equal and fairer society, with students also asked not to describe over-65s as “senior”, “aged” or “elderly”. Repeated violations of the guidance could constitute contravention of a policy on dignity and mutual respect, students were told. Tory MP Mark Francois was critical of the guide, telling The Sun: “It seems wokery may be trumping civility on campus.”

Meanwhile, the University of Nottingham made headlines in both the UK and the US for renaming a master’s course in Viking and Anglo-Saxon studies as Viking and early medieval studies. According to The Daily Telegraph, the term “early medieval England” is preferred to “Anglo-Saxon” because some academics are concerned that the latter has become a phrase used by racists surrounding white identity. The move aligns with the sector’s broader efforts to decolonise the curriculum in this area since the Black Lives Matter protests, with the renaming of the long-running academic journal Anglo-Saxon England earlier this year, and the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists in 2019. Critics have argued that such decisions in the UK are an import from the US, where scholars have warned that the term “Anglo-Saxon” has been used to describe those descended from white settlers. Nottingham also said it would seek to “problematise the term ‘Viking’” in its tuition.

Freshers’ week is one of the biggest events in students’ calendars, as undergraduates prepare for university life with a marathon of drinking sessions and foam parties. But students at the University of Bristol who were scheduled to move into its new Bedminster Metal Works student halls look set to miss out because the accommodation will not be ready. The university had brought forward the start of term after a review of the structure of its academic year, but legally binding contracts mean that the move-in dates for the 819 students cannot be changed. The university has offered affected students a payment of £250 and has promised extra events, leaving them with the choice of paying for additional accommodation, or missing out on the rite of passage, the BBC reported.