FT Global MBA rankings

2008 Global MBA rankings Just published by the FT. Not hugely exciting but what does seem to me to be remarkable is that all of the UK institutions appearing in the top 100 have improved their positions since 2006 and all have improved on their positions over last year's table (some dipped between 06 and …

Mc A-Levels

According to the BBC, a McDonald's 'A-level' is to be launched Fast-food giant McDonald's has become one of the first firms to offer its own nationally recognised qualifications. It will offer a "basic shift manager" course, training staff in skills such as human resources and marketing. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority said the company had …

Fee generosity?

In the context of reports about bursary support in English universities it is instructive to consider some recent developments from the Ivy League: First, from the Chronicle: Yale University said on Monday that it would reduce the average cost of studying in New Haven, Conn., by at least half for families with annual incomes below …

Web searching: quality not quantity?

Interested to note the development of Intute This is the pitch: Intute is a free online service providing access to the very best web resources for education and research. All material is evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists to create the Intute database. With millions of resources available on the Internet, it …

Where to find £500m or so?

According to "THE" (that's going to take a bit of getting used to - "have you seen the "THE" then?"), it's a total savings package for DIUS of around £1.5B. A quoted DIUS VFM report says: "Key areas being targeted are in higher education institutions, including procurement savings, shared services, better use of information and …

He really doesn’t like the QAA

Entertaining Guardian interview with Thomas Docherty It includes some quotations from his forthcoming book which offer a choice perspective on the QAA: Is the Quality Assurance Agency (a) a safeguard designed to maintain and improve academic standards or (b) the "worst thing to happen to higher education in recent times - and perhaps ever"? Docherty …

Help from Mum and Dad

BBC Education has a report on this wonderful phenomenon: Parents are paying hundreds of pounds for degree-course essays for their children studying at university, claims an essay-writing service. The essay company, UKEssays.com, says that 78% of student customers buying essays are using their parents' money. "The students will talk about the essay they want and …

Questionable universities

Good and detailed report from the BBC on this particular institution: "Bogus university scam uncovered". An international education scam that targets foreign students who come to study in the capital has been exposed by a BBC London investigation. The bogus Irish International University (IIU), which offers sub-standard and worthless degrees, has been allowed to flourish …