Student life

Elise Thrale is a second year French and Italian student at the University of Bristol

I began my degree completely unacquainted with Italian. After arriving late to my first ever seminar, my tutor asked me in Italian what my name was. I just stared at her until she spoke to me again in English. 

Across the UK, students and staff at colleges and universities are celebrating the impact of social action in their communities.

When I was 17 and putting together my UCAS application, I only applied to London universities.  I could not be swayed by well-meaning teachers or sensible family members who encouraged me to keep an open mind and explore the whole of the UK. London was the only place I wanted to be a student. A few years on and now London has just been named one of the best cities in the world to be a student, I would say I made the right decision.

Half of university staff think that students turn up for class without having done the required reading, according to data collected by Times Higher Education.

In THE’s Teaching Survey for 2017, 1150 higher education staff (90 per cent of whom were academics) were surveyed on their teaching habits and their views on student engagement.

The online magazine Spiked has released its 2017 Free Speech University Rankings, an analysis of the state of free speech on UK university campuses.

Essentially, it’s a guide to what universities do or do not allow on their campuses when it comes to, say, controversial speakers, newspapers, adverts, student societies, fancy dress; and the policies that it has in place relating to equality and dignity, gender identity, “safe spaces” and “no platforming” – the banning of individuals or groups thought to hold far-Right or extremist views.

New data from a student accommodation marketplace show that even more European students are interested in coming to the UK this year, despite concerns that the prospect of Brexit would put them off.

Enquiries from European students into UK accommodation on Student.com tripled during September to December 2016 compared with the same period the previous year.

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The University of Huddersfield has the highest proportion of academic staff with a known teaching qualification, out of 130 universities in England.

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, gave University College London $10 million in 2011 to establish an Institute of Sustainable Resources: a situation as ironic as a tobacco company funding cancer research.

British universities are undoubtedly among the most expensive in Europe. The same goes for the costs of living as a student in the UK. The situation in Germany, on the other hand, could not be more different. Freed of exorbitant university fees, German students enjoy higher education of a comparably high standard that usually does not see them graduate with a huge pile of debt that then has to be paid off. 

As we approach the end of Barack Obama’s presidency, it will be high time for experts to begin evaluating the significance of his legacy. Many will discuss the hallmarks of his administration such as healthcare reform, the elimination of Osama bin Laden, and diplomacy with Cuba, weighing these achievements against the deficits and lost opportunities that critics associate with Obama’s handling of foreign policy and the economy. But I suspect not as much will be said about the gems we’ve gleaned from observing Obama’s character.