The union’s counter-proposal to another rent increase
The University of Manchester is proposing further rent rises despite an £87 million surplus, and its students’ union has published a counter-proposal. The argument students’ unions make in these negotiations is straightforward: accommodation is meant to cover its costs rather than subsidise the rest of the institution, and the accounts show whether it does. Finding student housing covers your options if it goes through.
The statistics behind the visa ban, examined
An analysis of the automatic refusal of student visas for nationals of Myanmar, Cameroon, Afghanistan and Sudan argues the “widespread abuse” claim rests on statistics that do not support it. The policy has now been through the High Court, an appeal, and three months of coverage; this is the first close look at the evidence behind it.
An energy company doubles its student employability intake
ScottishPower is taking its largest ever cohort onto Breaking Barriers, its employability programme for students. Schemes run with a single employer are usually easier to enter than open graduate schemes, pay something, and produce the reference that makes the next application work. Internships and work experience covers finding them.
A university’s best subject rankings since 2020
Warwick has recorded its strongest performance since 2020 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. Subject rankings are more useful than institutional ones — they are what an employer in that field half-notices — but they are built largely on academic reputation surveys, so they move slowly and say little about teaching.
