Opt-out sounds 'death-knell' for languages
University language departments fear they cannot survive survive the impact of green paper proposals to make languages optional from age 14. Thousands of teenagers are expected to drop language...
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Debt rise puts fees on agenda at Oxford
Oxford University is to consider charging differential fees as a way of meeting its mounting deficit. Fees were discussed at a university council meeting on May 20 but the discussion was not included...
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Universities to help colleges target local needs
Universities will play a part in the "comprehensive reform" of 14-19 education and training outlined by education secretary Estelle Morris this week. They will join schools and employers as key...
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Scientists rail at unworthy peers
Significant numbers of physicists believe colleagues get an undeserved share of the credit for academic research publications, according to a survey. Two-thirds of scientists whose latest journal...
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Report urges radical change in Scottish funding
Scottish higher education is reacting cautiously to proposals for a radical new funding system that would reward institutions for their success in tackling government priorities. The Scottish Higher...
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Pay strikes set to cause chaos
Strike action could shut universities this autumn as unions representing tens of thousands of staff, from professors to cleaners, unite to reject an "insulting" 2.5 per cent pay increase when they...
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Societies fight for rent-free rights
Five learned societies may go to court over a demand to pay rent on government-owned offices that have been rent-free for more than 125 years. The societies are seeking legal advice on the strength...
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Red tape makes overseas scholars feel like 'prisoners' in UK
Many overseas students feel like "prisoners" in the UK as Home Office red tape leaves them without a passport for up to a year, MPs and student groups have said. Despite the streamlining of visa...
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Academic calls for withdrawal of health committee criticism
The academic at the centre of an increasingly personalised debate on the role of private finance in the National Health Service has rebutted criticisms from a committee of MPs. Allyson Pollock, head...
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Pensions crisis hits student unions
Student unions could risk financial ruin as they try to prevent the collapse of their £22 million pension scheme. The Students Union Superannuation Scheme has assets of only 50 per cent of its £46...
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No vroom for sectarianism
Northern Ireland's subculture of "outlaw bikers" has prevented many youngsters from joining sectarian and paramilitary groups, an Ulster University academic has found. Harley-riding Paul Moore, a...
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Analysis: Dynamic sector demands respect
An industry worth £35 billion a year 'is being neglected'. Alan Thomson reports Higher education is a £35 billion-a-year Cinderella industry underappreciated by the government, according to a new...
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Campus life reinforced class divides
Higher education may have reinforced socioeconomic class divides for most of the 1970s and 1980s, writes Alan Thomson. A study by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics...
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Whistleblowers: Plagiarism scandal returns to haunt v-c
The head of one of Australia's leading academic institutions, Monash University, admitted to "a serious violation of scholarly standards" during the early research that launched his distinguished...
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Unwell? Ape an ape's remedy
We can advance knowledge in many fields by studying the ways animals medicate themselves, says Cindy Engel Navajo and Blackfoot Indians say that one of their most powerful medicines was discovered by...