Cambridge hammered in new report
Fundamental failings of management and accountability at Cambridge University led to the disasterous implementation of a £9 million financial accounting system that almost brought the university to its knees, a report into the affair reveals today.
The introduction of the Capsa system was an "unmitigated disaster", punctuated by moments of "high farce" and underpinned by "fallacious" financial analysis and "staggering naïvety", the report by Michael Shattock says. He calls for major reform of the university’s governance.
Millions lost on NQTs who quit
Around £100 million of taxpayers’ money is being wasted annually on training teachers who will quit the classroom within three years of qualifying. A study, commissioned by the National Union of Teachers and carried out by the Centre for Education and Employment Reseach at Liverpool University, said that badly behaved pupils, heavy workload, inadequate pay and a constant stream of government initiatives were the main reasons why young teachers left early.
Humble pie for media studies critics
Critics of media studies programmes today learned that graduates of the discipline find jobs faster than the average university leaver. Last year some 76 per cent of media studies graduates had found employment within six months of graduating compared with a national average in all disciplines of 68 per cent, according to a report by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, Careers Service Unit and the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.