2024 graduate Alix shares how Clearing allowed her to join RGU, her university of choice, after she didn’t get the grades she needed to have her first offer accepted. She tells us more about the Clearing process and how she has been supported at RGU. What is Clearing? UCAS Clearing is a second chance for students to get a place at university. You can use Clearing if you did not get any offers when you first applied due to exam results or if you c…
…re that way.” She’s been doing so well on the course that Technical Instructor Andy Menzies invited her to some race weekends with Excelr8, a professional racing team, to gain some industry experience. “I did a few rounds with Excelr8 with Mini Coopers as a Tyre Engineer. It was a different experience being with a professional team and I gained a lot of knowledge that has helped with my modules this year.” Besides the knowledge she has gaine…
…derstands what creativity can bring to the nation. It is when we begin to truly influence opinion-formers and policymakers and look to hold the new Labour administration to account. It is up to us to make a difference, and we must make that difference now.” Professor David Mba, Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham City University including the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire The summit coincided with the publication of GuildHE’s (in consort with UKADIA) “…
University Alliance have published their response to the Department for Education’s Advanced British Standard consultation. Summary University Alliance is broadly supportive of the aims of the Advanced British Standard (ABS). As professional and technical universities, we see equal value in both academic and vocational subjects and do not believe students should be forced down one route or another. We also agree that all students need good litera…
…at a time when applications to nursing programmes are declining, even the trusted supplier role becomes less reliable and ICBs run the risk of not having the right staff with the right skills in the right place unless there is a joint effort to effect a change. Coordinated delivery Delivering an ambitious workforce plan in a financially challenging environment will require new creative ways of working – how can the existing workforce be reskilled,…
On Thursday 25 January, the government announced that maintenance loan payments would rise by 2.5% from September 2024 for students in England. On Friday 26th, the Department for Education released its Equality Impact Assessment for HE student finance in 2024/25, which looked at the impact of the proposed changes. In our latest briefing, we highlight how the proposed levels of student maintenance support fall short, and make the case for improved…
Ahead of the Autumn statement, University Alliance has warned the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt of ‘serious financial challenges’ that present a significant risk of ‘a two-tier university system emerging’. Vanessa Wilson, CEO of University Alliance wrote to the Chancellor suggesting several low-cost or cost-neutral policies to ensure professional and technical universities can continue to excel in high-quality skills provision. Vanessa Wilson said: “The…
In response to the publication of NHS England’s Long-Term Workforce Plan, the CEO of University Alliance Vanessa Wilson said: “We are pleased and relieved that this plan has now been published. This will allow universities to commit to more long-term planning and expand their teaching offer. There are challenges that must be overcome to really scale up healthcare education, but we believe our universities have the solutions. We want to work as cl…
In response to the initial proposed changes to the Research Excellence Framework (REF), Vanessa Wilson CEO of University Alliance said: “We welcome the initial proposed changes to the next Research Excellence Framework. In our consultation response to the Future Research Assessment Programme, we outlined concerns that REF would become a more frequent exercise. We are therefore delighted that REF will next be conducted in 2028. This brings a degre…
University Alliance responds to the OfS consultation on sexual harassment and misconduct, stating that while they strongly agree that all higher education students should be protected from sexual harassment and misconduct, a new registration condition is not the best way of achieving this. Their preferred response would be for the OfS to monitor compliance with a renewed Statement of Expectations for Preventing and Addressing Harassment and Sexua…