Information

Unlocking the Key Information Set

by Alex Buckley September 27, 2012

Today the new Unistats site goes live and Key Information Sets are soon to finally emerge; blinking into the sunlight, as endlessly cycling widgets designed to add a certain effervescence to course websites. Most of the attention has been focused on their role in the march of the market and the rise of the consumer. However, I want to make a separate point about the relationship between the KIS and quality which I do not believe has been explored in as much depth as it could have been.

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Are we ready for a postgraduate NSS?

by Adam Child September 7, 2012

It will not have escaped the notice of regular readers of this site that attention is finally turning towards the future of postgraduate provision. Others have focused on elements of the debate such as the widening of participation to postgraduate studies. Another area which is gathering momentum is the push for a postgraduate equivalent of the National Student Survey and the natural extension of the Key Information Sets to include postgraduate programmes. But are we ready for this big move and do we understand the effects of these at undergraduate level yet?

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Could the Australian Bullseye posters help UK IAG?

by Martin Hughes July 29, 2011

At a recent meeting on information, advice and guidance (IAG), I was introduced to Career Bullseye Posters.

The Australian government has developed posters to reflect the possible career routes people can take depending on their subject specialism and level of learning. Bullseyes start in the middle at Level 1, roughly the equivalent of completing GCSEs, expanding out at the edges for Level 4, at degree level.

Bullseyes act only as a guide, but this is no bad thing. Each path taken in life is unique. Students must be made aware that just because one past graduate achieved the dream job of a prospective student, it doesn’t mean that the same degree will yield the same results upon graduation.

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Little choices could pave way for sector reform

by Mario Creatura June 20, 2011

Choices. Lots and lots of them. Facing all young people, all the time. We’ve all heard the political rhetoric and the concerns that now, more than ever, young people are pressurised into making life-changing decisions when in a relatively uninformed position.

Yet through the options open to them and the way that they are being presented, the choices that these people make is not just affecting their futures but the future of the higher education sector as a whole.

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The PR campaign must fight counter-intuitive fees assumptions

by Mark Leach May 9, 2011

Today the Government launch their much-anticipated PR campaign to explain the new tuition fee changes. A partnership with Channel 4 is in place to target a key demographic through E4 and other mediums close to ‘youth’.

Those close to David Willetts and BIS have been consistent in their calls for the Government to undertake such a communications exercise. The calls have not gone unheeded, but the tangled web of policy that Willetts, Cable and Co. managed to maneuver themselves into meant that until now, it has been hard enough to communicate their intentions to the HE sector, let alone the people that are now weighing up the pros and cons of applying to higher education.

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The latest attempt to communicate the fees system by BIS falls short

by Mark Leach March 21, 2011

BIS have today published a flyer and FAQ sheet about the new fees system. But it’s too little, too late. Their failure to communicate adequately through the policy quagmire they have created will have lasting repercussions.

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Let’s not lose sight of the real participation dream

by Derfel Owen March 17, 2011

As someone who was brought up in working class surroundings and was the first in my family to move permanently out of Wales, let alone go to University, I get frustrated when (albeit well meaning) journalists, HE representatives etc. speak as though student fees are the only factor that will inform the decisions of people like me about whether to go to university.

They’re not.

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David Willetts’ elitist folly #516

by Mark Leach March 14, 2011

The Sunday Times reported yesterday that David Willetts is to organise a direct mail campaign to target top A Level students that do not choose elite institutions in order to “chivvy up their ambition”. He told the Sunday Times that he would write; ‘Congratulations, you have done so well, the world is your oyster. Some of our most competitive universities would love to have someone with your qualifications applying to them. Have you thought about it?’

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The real widening participation challenge

by James Redfearn February 24, 2011

An article published today in the Guardian has highlighted the real challenge the Government and the HE sector face in ensuring continued access to HE. Whatever your opinion on the politics around HE funding, and indeed whatever the new ‘HE market’ landscape will look like in 2012, we are faced with the fact that fees will be higher across the sector.

But articles like the one published today, and the rhetoric of debt in constant use by anti-cuts protestors and indeed Her Majesty’s Opposition are having a real impact on prospective students and parents in lower-income families. Of course those of us involved in Higher Education know that this perception is wrong – paying graduate contributions does not represent a debt in the same way as that of a credit card, for example it won’t affect mortgage applications etc, and indeed higher education will be free at the point of use in terms of fees.

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