Formation Continue du Supérieur

By Don Nutbeam. A growing emphasis on interdisciplinary research is not matched by university learning and teaching, says Don Nutbeam. Such is the success of collaborative research in our universities that it is now almost second nature for specialists from different disciplines to choose to work together. Cross-disciplinary collaboration helps usresolve some of the most challenging issues facing society; in areas ranging from sustainable energy to global health, climate change to cyber-security. What is remarkable is that this increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary research not been matched in university learning and teaching. The curricula offered by the UK's research intensive universities remain largely discipline-based and designed to deliver a set of subject-based outcomes – of great depth but increasing narrowness. This status quo is, to a large extent, upheld by the requirements of the many professional, statutory and regulatory authorities responsible for accrediting courses for the different professions; and to a lesser degree by conservatism in the academic community. More...

By Ellen Collins. Paywalls may not be the only barrier we need to overcome if the public is to benefit from academic research, says Ellen Collins. I hit a career high when my research on university library data recently appeared in the Guardian education pages. However, my initial surge of excitement was tempered slightly when I saw the journalist hadn't provided references to my actual study and significantly when I realised the single finding she'd quoted was – to put it charitably – not very reliable. My feelings on browsing the comments section can't really be articulated in a family news outlet, but it was clear that many people had picked up an incomplete understanding of how and why the research was being done. But the worst part of the experience was this: I had blogged the whole project – background, rationale, false starts, findings, corrections – openly online. Aren't these misunderstandings exactly the kind of problem that openness is supposed to prevent? More...

Editorial. For the individual student, the chance of being able to trade up after better than expected results could be a life-changing one. 

It ought not to be impossible to have a policy for universities that is about both promoting excellence and widening access. But it is important to recognise, all the same, that they are two different things, and there is always a risk that pursuing one objective might jeopardise the other. This year's decision to remove the recruitment cap on students with ABB or higher at A-level may be a case in point. For the individual student, the chance of being able to trade up after better than expected results could be a life-changing one. For the ecology of higher education, a flight to prestige – if it really happened – might deprive some of the newer universities of the students they need in order to remain viable in the long term. Some of those in the system think that in parts of the government, this is now regarded as a desirable consequence.

Even among some ministers who talk about the importance of broadening access, there is a perception that Britain has in practice a two-tier university system: the Russell Group of 24 older universities – and all the rest. More...

By Harry Slater. It's your biggest investment and most crucial piece of equipment, so choose carefully. Topping the list of university essentials is a lightweight, well-equipped and robust laptop. It should be portable enough to be easily carried from halls to lecture theatres to the library. It needs to boast the hardware and software for essay writing, note-taking and every form of procrastination in between. And ideally, it will last the length of your course. The space-saving, lightweight champion is the netbook. An affordable choice, they're ideal for lecture to library use. A good looking model with adequate Ram and hard drive space (4GB and 400GB respectively should cut it) can be picked up for £300-£350. More...

By David Willetts. The government would like university students to see themselves as 'consumers'. But they should be proud first and foremost to be students.
Dear A-level students
I hope when you collect your results this morning you discover that you have got the grades you were looking for, particularly if you are hoping to go to university. If it has all worked out, congratulations! You are about to embark on one of the most important experiences of your life. But please don't pitch up at university at the end of September behaving like a consumer. You will be something more complex, more challenging and more important: you will be a student. It is not the same thing at all.
Unfortunately for you, being a student is an expensive business these days. The coalition government, muttering darkly about austerity back in 2010 and claiming that the nation could no longer afford generous support for students, has cut funding to universities and tripled university fees to £9,000 per year. To sell the new fee regime the government placed a heavy emphasis on the promise that students paying the elevated fees would be at the heart of the system and effectively acquire the status of consumers with the purchasing power to drive up standards as universities chase for business in a reinvigorated market in higher education. More...

By Jill Papworth. Determining where to live is the next step for those whose A-level results have secured them a place at university. If Thursday's A-level results mean your child has a confirmed place at university, the next task is to make sure their first-year accommodation is sorted out. Those with the right grades to secure their first choice offer may already have fixed up where they are going to live; new students can apply for accommodation once they have accepted an offer of a university place as their first choice before they get their A-level results. Others who have missed out on their first choice and are accepting a second choice or clearing place offer will need to contact the relevant university's accommodation services department swiftly and see what is left. More...

By David Willetts. The rise in people studying sciences and maths is very welcome, but arts and humanities subjects are also hugely valuable, both to employers and in their own right. Last week saw hundreds of thousands of students secure their places at university. More students than ever before have got their first choice as this government has freed universities from the old system of limits on the number of students each one could accept. Record applications from students from low-income backgrounds suggests that they understand they don't have to pay upfront to go to university: they recognise that paying back as graduates through PAYE is nothing like leaving university with a credit card debt. So this is the week our higher education reforms have really taken root. We want to see young people fulfilling their aspirations, and it would have been a tragedy if young people had given up on the dream of going to university. More...

By Richard Adams. Russell Group universities have joined competition for students, with successful A-level candidates now able to trade up. Britain's universities found themselves drawn into an intense competition to recruit students as the annual post-A-level scramble for university places got under way, with £1bn worth of student fees as the potential prize. The government's decision this year to allow unrestrained competition for students gaining ABB grades and above at A-level has seen members of the elite Russell Group of research universities entering the clearing market – a process known as "adjustment". At stake is the £9,000 in fees that students may bring with them, making the 2013 clearing round the most lucrative in British university history. More...

By Daniel Boffey. Number of universities offering modern languages degrees plunges from 105 in 2000 to 62 at start of this academic year.  As many as 40% of university language departments are likely to close within a decade, the former government adviser charged with bolstering foreign language uptake in higher education has warned, delivering a huge blow to the UK's diplomatic and economic hopes. Amid a deepening crisis in language learning – which is causing alarm at the highest levels of government – the number of universities offering degrees in modern languages has already plunged from 105 in 2000 to 62 at the start of this academic year. More...

By Richard Adams. Fewer students having to take part in clearing, suggesting universities have been making more generous offers. A record number of students have been accepted and confirmed on university courses, as the rush to secure a university place continues the day after A-level results were released. The latest update by Ucas, which administers the UK university admissions process, said that as of Friday morning more than 401,000 applications had been accepted by colleges and universities, the highest number on record. The previous highest total at this stage was 397,000 in 2011. Read more...