A university settles student complaints in cash
Cardiff University has paid more than £700,000 settling student complaints about strike disruption and marking delays. It is the clearest demonstration yet that these claims succeed: the route is the university’s own complaints process, then the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, and the students who are paid are the ones who complained in writing at the time.
Nearly 4,000 humanities jobs lost in a year
A count of confirmed cuts finds close to 4,000 humanities posts lost across UK universities in twelve months, with Exeter proposing further cuts mostly in humanities despite its annual report describing continued financial strength. If you are applying to a humanities course, ask how many staff teach it now compared with two years ago.
Oxford last among the Russell Group on organisational management
The National Student Survey’s organisational management measure — whether a course is well run, communicated and timetabled — puts Oxford lowest of the 24 Russell Group universities at 73 per cent. It is the survey question that captures the daily experience of being a student, and it correlates poorly with prestige.
A ticketing glitch before graduation week
York students have been unable to buy additional graduation tickets because of a fault in the university’s ticketing system, days before ceremonies. Extra tickets are usually released after a deadline for unclaimed places — ask the ceremonies office directly rather than waiting for the system to be fixed.