Millions spent on restructuring at universities in financial trouble
A HEPI report names the universities spending the most on restructuring — the consultancy, redundancy and reorganisation costs incurred while cutting staff — and questions the value of that spending at institutions already in deficit. For students the visible end of it is the department that loses three staff and merges two modules, usually announced after applications have closed.
A surge in top grades has produced unexpected rejections
More students achieved top A-level grades this year, and the effect has been rejections and deferrals for applicants who met their offers on paper but arrived at courses already full. If this happened to you, the routes are clearing, a deferred place, or an appeal to the university — and the last of those works better in writing to admissions than over the phone.
How many students leave in the first weeks, in the official figures
The Student Loans Company has scheduled its statistics on early-in-year withdrawal notifications — universities telling it that a student has left, from the course start date onwards, going back to 2018/19. They are the only public measure of how many people leave in the first term, and worth knowing if the first fortnight has left you doubting the decision: it is common enough to be counted.
Student Loans Company, 8 September
Cheap food that is not a meal deal
A ranking of the Too Good To Go surprise bags near one London campus — restaurant and bakery surplus sold at a discount at the end of the day. The app works in every university city, and it is one of the few ways to eat from somewhere decent on a student budget. Eating well on a student budget covers the rest.