Students turning to two-year foundation degrees

More students are turning to two-year university degrees in the economic downturn, figures show.

The number of undergraduates gaining “foundation” degrees soared by almost a third last year, it was revealed.

Figures showed 24,865 students completed a short degree course in 2010 compared with 18,850 in 2009 and just 9,275 five years ago.

The disclosure suggests that students are increasingly seeing foundation degrees – which take two years to complete and combine academic study with work-based tuition – as a cheaper alternative to traditional undergraduate courses.

Many students also favour them because they can often lead directly to a job.

It follows claims from David Willets, the Universities Minister, that growing numbers of young people should seek alternatives to...

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Can you get a refund if university fails to deliver?

Increased tuition fees are likely to result in more students claiming compensation when courses are not up to standard.

Courses that are sub-standard, lecturers who don't turn up, supervision that doesn't materialise ... now that students will be paying up to £9,000 a year, will they be able to demand their money back if university fails to deliver?
If a product doesn't live up to expectations, if it's not of merchantable quality, then consumers have rights to ask for their money back under the Sale of Goods Act. But what if you are paying for a course that didn't live up to expectations? Already, officials in the university sector are preparing for an increase in complaints from heavily-indebted consumers of education who feel they didn't get what was promised.

First, it's important to remember that students are not buying a degree. They pay for services and facilities (tuition, libraries) which enable them to study and complete a course to...

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18-year-old student arrested - University Protests

Police have arrested an 18-year-old college student in connection with the throwing of a fire extinguisher at police from the roof of Conservative Party headquarters.

The man, believed to be the long-haired protester pictured in photographs released by police yesterday, was arrested in Southampton by Scotland Yard officers on Monday night. He was transferred to London on Tuesday for formal questioning.

The canister landed inches away from a group of police officers 70ft below. One officer admitted had it hit him "somebody would have been visiting my wife and children and saying either I was dead, or very, very seriously injured"...

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