higher education

The latest world university rankings have been released by Times Higher Education, showing some unexpected trends. Whilst US and British universities still dominate the top 200, Asian universities are noticeably beginning to gain ground. The rankings measure 13 different attributes of an institution which encompass its teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

At the top the list, California Institute of Technology (above) takes the number 1 spot for the second year running, with the University of Oxford following close behind in joint second with Stanford University. The top ten is made up exclusively from US and UK universities, with Cambridge coming in seventh and Imperial College London in eighth. Indeed, of the top 200, over half are from one of the two countries; the US claiming 76 and UK 31.

A new tool for students looking to study at British universities was unveiled today, which provides all the vital information needed. The government backed website Unistats has details on every single one of the 31,000 higher education courses in the UK, including how much they will cost, the teaching hours involved and the likely salary graduates will earn.

The website is the latest attempt to promote British universities and help students decipher all the recent changes to tuition fees. This year university applications were down for the first time in years, as the higher tuition fees came in to play. The government hopes that the comprehensive and easily understandable information will encourage those prospective students who have been put off by the confusion of the last year or so. The thinking is, if you are going to be paying £9,000 a year for a course, you want to know exactly what you're getting before you apply.

The Higher Education Funding Council has provided the information for every course in the UK, helping future students find:

Friday saw the latest twist in the saga surrounding London Metropolitan University's international students, as the High Court ruled that its students with full immigration status can continue their studies at the institution.

Less than a month ago, the UK Border Agency stripped the university of its right to act as a visa sponsor for non-EU students. This not only meant that London Met could no longer recruit new international students, but also that the existing students (around 2,000 of them) due to return to their studies this week had to find a different institution.

However, after the university strongly denied any wrongdoing and outcry from prominent figures in British higher education, the High Court has given permission to London Met to challenge the decision. It also ruled that whilst the process of appeal was taking place, new and existing international students who had already been granted visas could begin the new academic year at the university.

The Interests of the Students

At the hearing, London Met's lawyer Richard Gordon argued that it "came down to fairness" and that the UKBA's decision was unlawful. Whilst not totally convinced by this, the judge did rule that the university could make a legal challenge through a judicial review.

A statement from UKBA followed, explaining:

The latest protest against the decision to revoke London Metropolitan University's license to teach international students took place yesterday outside the Home Office and Downing Street. Around 200 student and staff from the university joined together, with the foreign students who must now transfer universities or face deportation leading the demonstration.

This is only a latest in a number of protests and outspoken statements from various well-known figures against the UK Border Agency's decision to remove London Met's status as a ‘highly trusted sponsor' for non-EU students. The decision made less than a month before the start of the new academic year left thousands of students stranded.

In an attempt to minimise the damage, a number of the largest higher education organisations in the UK met yesterday to try and work out the best way forwards for the students left stranded by the decision. They hope to be able to offer every one of the international students who have been left without a place at London Met, place at a different university instead. A clearing system is expected to be announced shortly.

After having its license to teach international students revoked last week, London Metropolitan University announced last night that they will be challenging the decision. In a statement, followed up by interviews by the vice-chancellor, the university strongly refuted the claims from the UK Border Agency and made it clear they will be taking immediate legal action.

The statement appeared on the university's website on Monday night and strongly denies the claims of UKBA:

"There is no evidence of systemic failings, as claimed. The evidence that we provided to UKBA clearly shows on file after file that we were taking every reasonable measure we could to be compliant."

It went on to describe how UKBA had significantly changed their requirements at least 14 times in the last three years and this is "creating confusion across universities in the country".

London Met now hopes to appeal against the decision, taking legal action "as a matter of urgency" in order for its students to return to study as soon as possible. Indeed, the vice-chancellor Professor Malcolm Gillies was in bullish mood during interviews, asserting: