A rise in graduates on health-related benefits
The number of British graduates claiming benefits because of health problems has risen, prompting analysts to ask whether courses are preparing people for work — and prompting others to point out that a weak entry-level market and a long NHS waiting list explain more. It is the number that will be quoted in every argument about the value of a degree this year, so it is worth knowing what it does and does not show.
Attitudes to disabled students improved; the adjustments did not
New research finds that staff attitudes towards disabled students have improved markedly while the actual provision of reasonable adjustments has not, leaving students negotiating the same arrangements module by module. The practical defence is documentation: a support plan from the disability service, sent to each department, is harder to ignore than a conversation. Extensions and academic support covers how to get one.
Making fairness a duty rather than a favour
A lecturer argues that equity work in universities still depends on individual goodwill — the staff member who makes the allowance, the tutor who notices — rather than on systems that work when nobody is paying attention. The test he proposes is a good one for students too: whether the support you got was designed, or whether you happened to ask the right person.