Student life

Since the introduction of fees, the expectations of students and parents have never been higher when it comes to learning resources. A draughty building, unimproved since its opening in the 1960s, and lacking modern texts and wi-fi, won’t be tolerated, and the message has got through to universities.

View the overall results of the 2017 Student Experience Survey

The University of Sheffield is rated second in the 2017 Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey when it comes to “societal experience” for st

It’s no secret that the quality of accommodation provided to undergraduates is extremely important to their university experience. Yet of all the responses to the Student Experience Survey, satisfaction with accommodation has consistently been ranked poorly. This year, the average rating for the accommodation composite was 5.2 out of 7, the lowest in all the categories.

Since the election last July of the hard-Left Malia Bouattia as president of the National Union of Students, the body, which claims to represent 7 million students, has been riven by dissent.

Dissatisfaction with some of Bouattia’s flagship policies and accusations of anti-Semitism have resulted in fellow NUS executive members “plotting” to oust her from her post. Meanwhile, a number of individual students’ unions have sought to disaffiliate from the national organisation.

It doesn’t take long for visitors to Harper Adams University to notice the relaxed, down-to-earth vibe on campus. Whether it is the students’ union president padding around his office in bright red socks, the group of welly-clad young women taking a dog for a walk or seeing the warm and welcoming Amanda Price at the student services centre, it soon becomes clear that this is an institution apart.

The exciting life sciences curriculum, global experiential learning opportunities and the possibilities of being able to learn outside the classroom were what attracted me to study at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Last summer, a team of Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) students held the largest student conference in Asia: the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations Asia Conference (HPAIR). We welcomed more than 550 delegates from over 70 countries to our beautiful campus and enjoyed a fruitful conference on international relations with more than 100 great speakers. It was the most unforgettable experience for me. 

Times Higher Education’s National University of Singapore has retained its position as the top university in Asia.

In fact, the 2017 top five contains the same universities as the 2016 top five, albeit with a slight shifting of positions.  

While I don’t want this blog to be about political debate, the fact that Brexit is happening and President Trump wants to build walls may put some students off from taking international placements as part of their course. I’d say an international placement is more important now than it has ever been and not just because of Brexit and Trump.

The University of Paris-Saclay is widening its international student outreach by offering 160 scholarships to outstanding master’s students 

The aim of the scholarships is to promote access to the university’s master’s programmes.

The grants will be valued at up to €10,000 (£8,700) for each student and will be awarded to those who have demonstrated academic excellence.