More offers held going into results day than ever
UCAS reports a record number of UK school leavers entering the results period holding an offer of a place, alongside a 7.1 per cent rise in international undergraduate applications — the highest on record. Demand is not the sector’s problem; the money that comes with each student is. For applicants it means firm and insurance choices matter more than clearing this year. Moving to university covers what follows.
Five weeks of strikes at Dundee from September
Staff at the University of Dundee will strike for five weeks from September over job cuts. Five weeks is the longest single action announced this year and it lands at the start of term, which means affected students should expect disruption to teaching from the first week and should ask now what mitigation the university will offer.
Student satisfaction, ranked across the Russell Group
The National Student Survey 2026 puts Birmingham top of the Russell Group for overall positivity and Edinburgh lowest — the same Edinburgh that has spent the year in dispute over £140 million of cuts. Satisfaction scores track disruption closely, which is worth remembering when reading any table published this summer.
Strike threat in south Wales over cuts
Staff at the University of South Wales are threatening industrial action over job cuts, saying those remaining are burned out. It is the eighth institution to face a dispute this year, and the pattern is consistent: cuts announced in the summer, ballots in the autumn, disruption by the spring.