Education at a price

Issue 859
Education at a price

T he older I get, the more resigned I become to the fact that little in this life is beyond a price-tag.

As university students we know only too well that education comes at a cost, with the vast majority of undergraduates leaving their degrees approximately £20,000 in debt. But recent research has found that some students are willing to pay out even more to ensure they get optimum academic results – they are buying coursework online (or at least model examples of their essays to use as ‘guides’ for their own work). What’s even more worrying is that a substantial number of these students’ parents are funding the habit.

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That’ll be the day...

Issue 859

If you want to be able to tell your average altostratus from your cumulonimbus cloud, February 5 is the day to find out as it’s Weatherperson’s Day.

I think weather-workers get a bad press. Okay, so they don’t always get the forecast spot-on, but they try.

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In the papers: The Guardian

Issue 859

With money – or more precisely, a lack of money – a continual worry for students, it comes as a nasty shock to hear that several high-ranking universities failed to pay out £12m of government-funded bursaries to students, last year.

The amount of ‘free money’ which is available never ceases to amaze me, but I only ever seem to hear about it when friends have successfully applied to some scheme and ‘cheated the system’. I remember receiving the Student Loan application for the first time and being completely flummoxed by the long-winded, complicated form – and that was working with the guide, so it’s little wonder that applicants are failing to ‘tick a box’. Surely, the government, universities and the Student Loans Company could make more of a concerted effort to draw attention to the unnatural concept of free cash.

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In the papers: The Times

Issue 859

I’ll have a Big Mac, large fries, Coca Cola… and a McDiploma, please.

Yep, it’s finally happened. We’ve let McDonalds supersize itself to such excessive proportions, it is now entering the world of education. By Autumn, the organisation will be able to offer a Level 3 qualification (the same standard as A Levels), as will transport-orientated companies, Flybe and Network Rail.

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