A new law stops student housing contracts being signed a year in advance
A ban on landlords signing most student rental contracts before 1 March of the year the tenancy begins has taken effect, and reaction has been mixed — students welcome the end of the November scramble, letting agents warn of a compressed market. What it changes in practice: you cannot be pressured into signing for next year in the first term, and anyone who tells you the good houses will be gone by Christmas is now describing an illegal contract. Finding student housing covers the new timetable.
Reports of harassment rise for a fourth consecutive year
Warwick’s Report and Support platform has recorded rising disclosures for the fourth year running. Rising numbers on a reporting tool usually mean more confidence in it rather than more incidents, which is why universities publish them — but the figure that matters, and is rarely published, is how many disclosures led to any action.
“Too many graduates”, says the King’s vice-chancellor
Shitij Kapur has developed his argument from last month, saying the UK now produces too many graduates for the jobs available, which is what has devalued the degree as a route to social mobility. It is a striking position from the head of a university that charges full fees to a large cohort, and it is the argument the government’s skills agenda rests on.