Emmanuel flexes minds and muscles
Emmanuel has been rated the best college for academic performance at Cambridge University. The college leads the Tompkins table of exam results for the first time since the rankings began 23 years ago. Richard Barnes, senior tutor at Emmanuel, attributed his college's success to a drive to recruit the best students, whatever their background, and to support them during their studies. Yoga and aromatherapy sessions were provided this summer in a student-devised scheme to reduce exam stress.
(Independent)
Top-up fees may be waived in Wales
Top-up fees could be ruled out in Welsh universities as a result of a decision yesterday to give the principality's assembly control over student funding. Jane Davidson, minister for education in Wales, announced an independent inquiry into whether to charge top-up fees in Wales's seven universities. If Wales exempts its universities from charging top-up fees, students from England attending Welsh universities would not have to pay them. But Welsh students studying at English universities would have to pay.
(Daily Telegraph)
Minister plays down regional bias in funding claims
Science minister Lord Sainsbury claimed yesterday that accusations from northern regions of a government bias in research funding towards "golden triangle" universities in the south were exaggerated. On a visit to Teesside University, Lord Sainsbury said he acknowledged the fears of universities in underperforming regions that they would lose out. But he said this worry had been overplayed partly because a degree of concentration in science research activity was "almost inevitable" in modern research.
(Financial Times)
Women set the pace in rush for universities
Nearly 20 per cent more women than men are applying for a place at university, figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service reveal. A record 437,615 people have applied to begin degree courses in October. Applications from women rose 4.3 per cent to 236,949, while those from men grew by 2.7 per cent to 200,666.
(Guardian, Daily Telegraph)
Mice pass the cheese for a whiff of chocolate
Scientists have given a whole new meaning to the phrase "death by chocolate": they have invented a baitless trap that lures rodents with the aroma of chocolate. In tests, the scented mousetrap proved more effective at slaughtering curious mice than snares impregnated with cheese or vanilla.
(Daily Telegraph)