Article of the month
Every month we publish a topical article by a member of our panels or someone working in Higher Education. Our guest articles cover current debates on the student experience, higher education policy and student marketing.
March 2010 - Article of the month
James Rothwell - A Level student (English Lit, French & German) , The Gryphon School Sixth Form
No comments
February 2010
Intelligence: The New Race Card?
Sophie Shorland
A Level student (English Lit & Lang, French, Politics) , St. Mary Redcliffe Sixth Form
The US has everything. Even, believe it or not, a society called the United Fools of America.
This ... » Read the article
January 2010
WANTED- Anorexic clothes horse to make tea and fetch the dry cleaning!
Chloe Georgiou
Journalism graduate, Southampton Solent University
I awoke bubbling over with excitement; after two years of countless e-mails, numerous letters, and endless phone calls I had ... » Read the article
December 2009
The Reality of Student Debt
Andrew Rushton
Final year Philosophy Student, University College London
Huge and burdensome. No, not my landlady, nor my final year workload: my student debt. Well, that’s one reality of ... » Read the article
November 2009
Why Should Parents Pay?
Alice Violett
3rd Year Modern History Student, University of East Anglia
Too many people assume that students’ parents are almost universally willing and/or able to financially support them at university. When ... » Read the article
October 2009
10 things you'd be a fool to do during Freshers' Week
Marta Szczerba
2nd yr Politics, Philosophy & Economics student, The University of Oxford
Freshers' Week can be a make-it-or-break-it time - here are some tips... 10 things you'd be a fool ... » Read the article
September 2009
Employers want more than a good essay writer
Simon Dechant
2009 Graduate in Business Information Systems, Sheffield Hallam University
There have been a number of articles in the news lately about the plight of recent graduates trying to get ... » Read the article
August 2009
Life at Opinionpanel
Hannah Paton and Sam Burton
Opinionpanel's graduate employees, Opinionpanel Research
This month's Video Article of the Month is from Hannah Paton and Sam Burton, two graduate employees who started at ... » Read the article
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July 2009
Gap Years - A Track Well Beaten
Anna Holdsworth
Penultimate Year Spanish Student, University of Leeds
Meeting new people, or should I say, students, we know the scenario, the standard questions, where are you from, what ... » Read the article
June 2009
Bloody students!
Tom Gilchrist
Final year Physical Geography student, University of Reading
'Students! Bloody students again!' If you’re like me then this is one of those refrains you’ll have seen and heard ... » Read the article
May 2009
Facebook? No thanks!
Laura Cobb
2nd Year Law student, University of Reading
Generation Y. Us! A generation of technological information absorbing, time wasting zombies infatuated with texting, instant messaging, blogging, social networking, ... » Read the article
April 2009
Why I love Facebook
Amy Smith
3rd Year English student, The University of Exeter
Our debut Video Article of the Month is from Amy Smith who has produced a video on why she loves ... » Read the article
March 2009
Panellists' city based money saving tips
Samantha Williams (editor)
Panel Manager, Opinionpanel Research
We asked members of The Student Panel to share their best money saving tips with us. We received contributions from ... » Read the article
February 2009
What more do you want of me?
Rebecca Spencer
Pharmacology graduate, Newcastle University
I'm 22, have spent over £3000 on getting a degree, lost 3 years work experience and wages and at present ... » Read the article
January 2009
What would Plato say!
Aiora Iriarte
Graduate of Development Studies from the University of East Anglia,
"Dear Aristotle,
What fascinating places these modern Universities are! They're something I have never seen before! Not only do the ... » Read the article
December 2008
Plagiarism - How one copy-paste can end your uni career
Hannah Fletcher
1st Year English Literature Student, University of Essex
Lovers of house music will remember Pete Waterman's outrage at revolutionary eighties track 'Pump Up The Volume' (a track composed ... » Read the article
November 2008
Life without Facebook
Sorrel Meechan
Law graduate, University of Birmingham
It was 2006. I'd heard of Facebook but I had never realised that I was the only person in the ... » Read the article
October 2008
The Credit Crunch is ruining my dreams
Marta Szczerba
1st year Politics, Philosophy and Economics student, The University of Oxford
"It's over" - announced Christian Meissner to the employees of Lehman Brothers. Wow, I couldn't have imagined a quicker way ... » Read the article
September 2008
The Olympic Spirit - Politics Need Not Apply
Robert Leedham
2nd year Politics and International Studies student, The University of Warwick
If you're old enough to go to university then you will be more than old enough to understand that we ... » Read the article
August 2008
My Summer Festival (Non)-Adventure
Ciaran Kennedy
Final year Music Student, The Queen's University Belfast
I have chosen not to have a festival adventure this summer. Now, when I say that I have "chosen" not ... » Read the article
July 2008
Doing a great 'Reverse Pterodactyl' doesn't change the facts - Lee McQueen is a CV cheat
Amanda Herington
2nd year English Literature and Psychology student, Keele University
Do you think it would really matter if you stated on your CV that you had achieved a Grade A ... » Read the article
June 2008
Follow the Yellow Brick Road and Grab that Pearl
Lucy Smith
Final Year Teacher's Training student, York St John University
‘You must be so excited to be finishing? What have you got planned over the summer? Have you got a ... » Read the article
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May 2008
Should I stay or should I go?
Kayle Brown
'A' Level student (Early Years, Biology, Chemistry), Carmel College
So everyone is making such a big deal about going to university. But does anyone else understand the fear welling ... » Read the article
April 2008
Social networking: The good, the bad and the privacy
Ashley Hall
'A' Level student (ICT, Economics, Geography and Business Studies), The Rochester Grammar School
The popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and My Space has exploded over recent years, especially among students. ... » Read the article
March 2008
Doctors on the Dole
Lara Khoury
4th Year Medical Student, Newcastle University
For centuries being a doctor has been a revered profession. This can be seen even today in the way most ... » Read the article
February 2008
Sushi for dinner, anyone?
Betsy Li
4th Year German with Management Student, University College London
Whenever I used to go home from university to visit my parents, they would accuse me ... » Read the article
January 2008
Why nobody need lose in this system
Nicolas Barr and Iain Crawford
Nicholas Barr is professor of public economics and Iain Crawford research fellow at the London School of Economics. This article was first published in 2006 - reprinted with kind permission of Professor Barr, London School of Economics
Many more people go to university following an enormous expansion of higher education. It has moved from an elite system ... » Read the article
December 2007
Why I'm going to drop out of University
Emily Spaven
Final year Journalism Studies Student, The University of Sheffield
I've had enough. I really can't stand it anymore. Tomorrow morning I'm going to ring my parents and tell them ... » Read the article
November 2007
BA degrees - the fast track to the temping office
Kate Webber
Final year English student, University of Leicester
Did you know just how useless your degree was going to be? Undergraduates are always told to carefully pick their ... » Read the article
October 2007
Mickey Mouse Degrees - What Have They Ever Done For You?
Paul Gillings
Final year student, Southampton Solent University
Boris Johnson commented recently “There are hundreds of thousands of dur-brained kids sitting for three years in an alcoholic or ... » Read the article
March 2007
Fees: Nicholas Barr has got it wrong.
Patrick Ainley
Professor of Training and Education, School of Education and Training, University of Greenwich
Professor Nicholas Barr’s assertion that “university is largely free” is largely false. As he explains it, HE is only “free ... » Read the article
December 2006
National Learner Satisfaction Survey
Esmee Hanna
PhD student, studying the changing nature of the student experience, The University of Leeds.
Esmee is supported through an ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council).
In July 2008 the LSC published the National Learner Satisfaction Survey (NLSS), which is the largest survey of learners in ... » Read the article
December 2006
Take up fees: The NUS has got it wrong. Fees help the poorest.
Professor Nicholas Barr
Professor of Public Economics, London School of Economics
When I was a lad, students were leftwing and campaigned for progressive causes. So it's good news that, last weekend, ... » Read the article
