Warning: Business Secretary Vince Cable. Photo by Liberal Democrats (Flickr)

One-fifth of universities and higher education institutions are in deficit, according to a recent report.

The ’Financial Health of the Higher Education Sector 2011’ report by accounting firm Grant Thornton, states that 26 UK Institutions currently have a deficit.

It also revealed that nearly half of all UK Institutions are achieving less than the three per cent of the operating surplus recommended by the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE).

A spokesman for HEFCE played down the concern, saying the sector had: “Strong cash balances and healthy reserve levels. These will help to weather potential future challenges”.

The report also discusses possible consequences of the changes to funding and raising of tuition fees, as it is estimated that universities outside of the prestigious Russell Group will face an 11 per cent cut in income by 2013-14.

This is due to reductions in teaching grants, a loss of research funding and lower demand for places.

However, the number of universities showing a surplus has increased, and fewer institutions are in deficit than the previous year.

The university and higher education sector employs 130,000 people and has a total turnover of £26.4 bn. Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has previously warned about instability of university finances.

Last autumn he sent out a warning about the financial state of some institutions.“We already have a lot of universities that are effectively broke,” he said.

“Various arrangements have been cobbled together to keep them going, and we can’t continue to do that.”A 40 per cent or £2.9 billion reduction in the overall resource budget for Higher Education (excluding research funding) by 2014/15 was announced in the 2010 Spending Review.

By Claire Sherlock

A University of Central Lancashire student who died in Ibiza last week has been described as a “kind hearted and considerate gentleman”.

Sam McCaughey, 23, from Middleton in Manchester, was studying Building Services and Sustainable Engineering part-time at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

He died after falling 30ft from a third floor balcony in San Antonio on the west coast of the resort.

Speaking about Sam, his father, Paul McCaughey, 49, said: “He was a very caring and considerate person.

“You would not find a person with a single bad word to say about him. He was very well loved and liked with many friends.”

Tributes have also been pouring in on Facebook, with more than 550 people joining a page dedicated to Sam.

They were led by his younger brother Joel who wrote: “R.I.P big bruv, stayin strong cos I know its what you want. You don’t understand how much I love you and will miss you.

“Not only was you my big brother but you were my friend and I’m proud to say that.”

Friend Holly Younge wrote: “All I know is that me and all my family have had the privilage of having you as part of our lives!!!!

“The most kind hearted and considerate gentleman that i have been blessed to have known.”

The parliamentary Civil Guard in Ibiza have launched an investigation into why he fell from the balcony.

A university spokesman said: “We are all saddened by this tragic news.  Sam was a promising student who was popular and well liked amongst his peers and staff at the University.  He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.”

Sam’s body is due to be flown home next week with the funeral taking place in Manchester.

His death came just six days after 25-year-old Jodie Taylor was killed falling from a balcony at the same resort.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We can confirm the death of a British national in San Antonio, Ibiza, on July 29. Consular assistance is being provided to the family.”

Do you have any tributes or memories of Sam? Leave them in the comment section below.

New research has shown that universities inject £1.31bn into the UK’s society every

Students can add over £1bn to society, research has shown

year through wellbeing, political engagement, health and citizenship.

Called ‘Degrees of Value: How Universities benefit society’, the research by think-tank, new economics foundation (nef) and Universities UK, attempts to demonstrate how universities contribute to society by implementing a financial value.

Dr Faiza Shaheen, nef economist and the report’s author, said: “Across a whole range of issues that David Cameron and Nick Clegg allegedly hold dear – from social mobility and community cohesion to volunteering and democratic engagement – universities are already making a huge difference.

“Everyone knows that higher education is essential for a thriving economy. It’s really important that as the government starts to reform university funding and student fees that they don’t inadvertently undermine these social contributions.”

One example is Manchester Metropolitan University which has facilitated above average social mobility in the local area by taking part in outreach programmes, catering to local course demands and offering opportunities for part time students.

The social value of this outcome works out at around £147 million a year.

According to nef, universities improve political commitment whilst adopting interpersonal trust and improving health, which as a direct result benefits the whole population.

Chief Executive of Universities UK, Nicola Dandridge said: “The value of higher education is generally assessed solely in terms of how much money universities generate for the individual, for business and for the wider economy.

“Critical though these considerations are, they tend to ignore the huge public good that universities generate both nationally and locally. This study addresses the often overlooked but fundamentally important ways in which higher education makes for a better society.”

The report formed part of the second annual Universities Week, which takes place yearly from 13-19 June 2011, with the objective to increase public awareness of the wide and varied role of the UK’s Universities.

The week looks towards the many different ways in how universities affect society, from working within local communities, supporting the economy and how research programmes affect the future.

Image courtesy of uniondocs.

Next time you’re out clubbing with a drink in each hand, dancing away without a care in the world and jumping into every photograph with your dignity in tatters, just remember your parents might see that dreaded photo.

Scenes like this are becoming more common

According to recent research, three out of four parents use social networking site Facebook to check up on their children’s university antics so be careful what you get up to.

However it seems students have wised up to their parent’s tricks, as only a third want to be friends with their mums and dads.

The research, by insurance company Ensleigh, also found that the internet is the most popular method of keeping in touch with family with 72 per cent of 18-25 year olds using the web. 70 per cent would also call home while only seven per cent would use the traditional method of post.

The study also found that students are becoming increasingly homesick, despite the rise of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

A massive 62 per cent of under 25s admitted to missing home, whereas only 55 per cent of over 45’s confessed to suffering from homesickness.

Surprisingly, only 13 per cent of students admitted to contacting home to request financial support.

The internet however isn’t a substitute for a natter on the phone, as two thirds of students phone home for the emotional support that parents provide and a catch up.

National Union of Students President Aaron Porter said: “The internet and social media have become indispensable tools for students for both study and for life, but they are clearly no substitute for human contact at what is often a time of upheaval, during which many feel homesick.

“Access to a computer or laptop is increasingly becoming essential as a way of keeping in contact with family, so it is all the more important that those essential items are protected.

“Parents can often help achieve peace of mind by ensuring insurance cover and anti-virus software are covered, reducing worry at an already stressful time.”

Ensleigh’s research also discovered that students are using the web for advice on how to do household tasks such as using the washing machine, with YouTube proving a particular favourite.

Relationship expert Christine Webber said: “These days parents are becoming less anxious about their kids flying the nest as there are so many different ways to keep in touch, but they must be careful not to invade their privacy by checking up on them too much.

“However it seems nothing can replace the comfort of the human voice, which is why so many students still need to phone home for a regular catch up.”

The poll questioned 1000 students and 1000 parents of university bound children, and also results from a similar survey of 700 students from June.

By Tom Murphy

In light of our new Conservative universities minister, Mr David Willets, branding university students ‘a burden on the taxpayer’, it was only a matter of time before the tuition fees debate reared its ugly head again.

As soon as the Conservatives chose to form an alliance with the Liberal Democrats rather than forming a minority government, it was glaringly obvious that both political parties’ opposing stances on university tuition fees would not sit well with one another- so much so that, to avoid division in the new coalition, the Lib Dems have been allowed to chose to abstain from voting for against the issue in parliament.

Convenient, once you consider the long standing Liberal Democrat stance on the abolition of higher education tuition fees.

On the campaign trail, both Nick Clegg and Vince Cable signed an NUS pledge vowing to vote against a rise in tuition fees if they were elected into parliament. It was this core value that drew a lot of previously apolitical students into politics, and gave us an incentive to go out and vote- a policy that directly affected us.

In stark contrast, the Conservatives remained sketchy on their stance on tuition fees throughout the general election campaign. When asked, representatives from the party told student voters that they wouldn’t comment on whether they’d raise tuition fees until they’d examined the results of a review into the state of fees.

Again, rather conveniently, those results will not be released until long after May 6 (it’s been reported that the results of the review will be available some time in the autumn). Willets spoke about the current loan system, commenting that it was ‘unsustainable’- and many students felt the sting of the overwhelmed system last academic year when thousands of us received late payments of our student loans. His remarks are the strongest indication yet of a rise in tuition fees.

The phrase Con/Dem Nation emerged as a trending topic on the social networking website, Twitter, after Britain’s new coalition government was slowly and painfully announced. Funny as the phrase was at the time, Cameron’s savage spending cuts have revealed the flippant phrase to ring uncomfortably true.

Higher Education funding faces huge cuts under the new government, following the Treasury Announcemvent.

George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer

University funding will be cut by £82m and they will be asked to make up for it in efficiency savings in the next year.

The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, today announced their plans for financial savings and cuts for 2010-11. Overall, there are to be £6.2b of savings.

Further Education faces fewer cuts. Spending for 16-19 year olds in education will be protected under the new government financial plans. £150m will be used to help deliver up to 50,000 adult apprenticeships.

Aaron Porter, NUS President Elect, responded to the Higher Education cuts.

“Universities have already had to cope with huge cuts for the coming academic year and to hit already tight budgets, especially without giving institutions time to prepare, is self-defeating,” he said.

“Whilst we welcome the investment in further education it is short-sighted to make cuts that will inevitably lead to poorer standards of teaching for students at the very time when highly-skilled graduates are needed to help the country on the road to recovery.”

The announcement also included £836m savings from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Modernisation Fund budget also faces a £118m cut, meaning cutting STEM subject places by half.

The cuts suggest that more financial emphasis will be places on students and their families.

“Asking students and their families to pay more for less would be unacceptable and we will fight to ensure that the coalition takes its responsibility to students seriously,” Mr Porter added.

By Hannah Breeze

Deputy News Editor

Photo courtesy of the CBI.

UCLan is the best modern university in the North West, a league table has confirmed.

The Independent newspaper’s Complete University Guide 2011 has ranked courses in Hospitality, Nursing and Communications and Media all within the top twenty nationwide with the courses ranked 13^th, 16^th and 19^th respectively.

Nigel Harrison, associate head of UCLan’s School of Nursing was delighted with the results.

“Overall, the School of Nursing and Caring Sciences is really pleased to have been placed in the top quartile of results; we were really proud to be 16th out of 68,” he said.

“We achieved 19th place last year and we put our improvement down to our increasingly good reputation. We came in the top ten in the Research Assessment Exercise in 2008 and UCLan has an improving position nationally as well as in the North West.”

UCLan excelled in the category of ‘academic services spend’ which measures spending and improvements in library and computer services; coming fifth in North West universities and 17^th nationally.

Overall UCLan improved its ranking to 72nd position out of 119 UK universities. The university topped the investment in teaching and learning activities of Oxford University which came top of the table overall.

The student to staff ratio placed UCLan fifth in the North West and 55^th nationally, meaning more student and staff contact.

“These results once again confirm UCLan’s position as the North West’s leading modern University,” said Dr Graham Baldwin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor.

“This particular table highlights the importance we place on providing an excellent student experience. Our students want realistic student/staff ratios, access to sector leading library and computing services and they want top of the range leisure facilities.

“The University has delivered on this wish list and is reflected in our excellent student satisfaction ratings and our growth in student applications.”

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) have released information that show UCLan applications for this year have increased by 26 per cent compared to the national increase of 17 per cent.

“This year we have seen an applications growth across all subject areas and although places are going fast it’s not too late to apply for 2010,” Dr Graham Baldwin added.

By Hannah Breeze

Deputy News Editor

Burnley Football Club is bidding to found the UK’s first Football University.

In ambitious plans, the club is trying to change the outlook of Turf Moor and surrounding areas in what has been described by club bosses as a ‘big dream’. The multi-million pound plans will be put into action by working with Prince Charles and his various regeneration charities.

The scheme, dubbed ‘the Premier Plan’, would be based on the grounds of Burnley cricket club, which would move to a brand new state-of-the-art facility to be built in the footprint of the current Unity College building.

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Universities are being forced to make cuts because of funding problems and pressure to save money.

With the government cutting spending wherever it can, British universities are suffering.

The University of Leeds is one of the worst affected, facing prospects of making compulsory staff redundancies. Despite being an elite university, with the second largest UK campus, it has major funding problems.

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Hundreds of thousands of prospective students face missing out on university because of budget cut backs.

Universities UK revealed that for 2010-11 cuts of £135m have been added to “efficiency savings” of £180m, with a further £600m to follow.

Universities’ funding body Hefce is yet to reveal how spending on teaching, research and capital will be allocated in England for the next academic year.

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