Rachel Reeves defends the student loan system
The Chancellor has described the student loan system as fair and reasonable, following weeks of criticism over the frozen repayment threshold and the effect of the freeze on graduates’ take-home pay. It is the clearest signal yet that the government does not intend to change the terms, whatever the reviews recommend, which matters to anyone borrowing this year. Student finance explained covers how repayment works.
Edinburgh’s accounts show a £43 million surplus, not a black hole
The University of Edinburgh’s latest accounts show a surplus of £43 million, after the institution spent a year justifying £140 million of cuts and around 1,800 job losses by reference to a funding gap. It is the document its staff unions have been asking for, and it is the context for the strike action that has run there since last spring.
Cambridge accused of obfuscation over arms investments
Cambridge has been accused of obscuring the detail of its investments in arms companies, a question pushed into the open by the student encampment outside King’s College in 2024. Universities’ endowments are published in their accounts but rarely itemised, and freedom of information requests are the route students have used to get further.