HIGHER EDUCATION’S EXPANSION PROBLEM

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academia, academic staff, academics, access, class sizes, confidence, consumerism, education, government, grades, higher education, higher education standards, profiteering, student as consumer, student numbers, students, tuition fees, uk, university growth, working class, working class students.

The number of students starting at UK universities has increased dramatically in recent years, despite a slight fall recorded this year, and is set to go on increasing as universities increase their intake. The government has heralded this as an example of the increasing availability of higher education to students coming from working class communities. However, we have to ask what impact the increase in student numbers is having on the quality of education provided by universities.

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STUDENTS NEED A REVOLUTION – STUDENTS AND THE ELECTION #1

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #GE2017, 1848 revolutions, 1968 protests, abstention, academic freedom, anti-apartheid, Apartheid, apathy, BDS, boycott, catch-22, collective action, desperation, direct action, divestment, erosion of the state, fossil free, Free Palestine, general election, government, healthcare, higher education, hope, insecure employment, israel, jeremy corbyn, Labour, marketisation, minimum wage, misrepresentation, national student survey, non-voters, politics, power structures, privatisation, property ladder, protest, public sector, rebellion, sit ins, snap election, student as consumer, student debt, student loans, student politics, student vote, students, Students and the Election, tef, tony blair, Tories, trade unions, tuition fees, universities, voters, voting.

by Bradley Allsop

In the midst of multiple crises faced by students, universities and schools, the outcome of the snap general election will be a major indicator of the future of the UK education sector. Each week until the vote we are featuring perspectives from our regular contributors and guests on what the election could mean for students.

Students have been at the forefront of progressive politics and change throughout the centuries. We were engaged in the 1848 revolutions that shook Europe, and front and centre of a wave of radical protest that shook the world in 1968. We played a part in challenging apartheid in South Africa and the continued Israeli abuse of the Palestinian people. Most recently we are leading the way on fossil fuel divestment.

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OXFORD’S PUBLICITY STUNT WON’T CLOSE THE UNIVERSITY CLASS GAP

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged bill clinton, Boris Johnson, buzzwords, capitalism, class, consumerism, degree, discrimination, diversity, education, elitism, employability, employment, family, graduate, graduate employment, graduate jobs, graduate unemployment, higher education, history of art, inclusivity, language, law, learning, lower income backgrounds, margaret thatcher, marketisation, middle class, module guides, nss, NUS, Phillip Hammond, politics, pressure, publicity stunt, student as consumer, student debt, student experience, student life, student loans, student satisfaction, students, students' unions, SU officers, Sutton Trust, teaching, tef, theresa may, tony blair, transferable skills, tuition fees, UCU, university, university management, University of Oxford, white, working class, working class students.

This month Oxford University, in conjunction with the Sutton Trust, launched a summer school aimed at attracting more “white, working class boys” to the university. While this has received praise from some sectors of society, it does not address the real reasons why working class people (not just boys or men) are not attending universities like Oxford.

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