Opinion Panel

Do you think it would really matter if you stated on your CV that you had achieved a Grade A instead of a Grade B in a subject at GCSE? Do employers really take note of such interests as being a ‘keen fell walker’? I suspect not, which is lucky when in truth you’ve only [...]

So everyone is making such a big deal about going to university. But does anyone else understand the fear welling up inside of me the more I think about it? I mean, my parents are all for it, but I’m only 17. What if all these plans I have made right now never become a [...]

The popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and My Space has exploded over recent years, especially among students. This popularity is probably down to the host of features these sites offer all in one place: blogging, instant messaging, personal profiles, photo albums and games to name but a few. But what is unique [...]

For centuries being a doctor has been a revered profession.  This can be seen even today in the way most people respect doctors, and in some instances literally put their lives in doctors’ hands.  As a medical student I have heard many patients utter the words “Whatever you think is best doctor”, possibly without truly [...]

Whenever I used to go home from university to visit my parents, they would accuse me of looking frail and starving myself. It has taken three years outside of the parental radar zone, including one year in Germany, to convince them that I am capable of looking after myself. In fact, I enjoy my student [...]

Many more people go to university following an enormous expansion of higher education. It has moved from an elite system in the 1960s, when 5-6% of young people went to university, to a mass system, with a 43% participation rate, and rising. If we returned to the 1960s, seven out of eight of today’s students [...]

I’ve had enough. I really can’t stand it anymore. Tomorrow morning I’m going to ring my parents and tell them to come and get me from Uni and I’m never going to return. Ok…so that might be a little over dramatic, but I’m almost certain that this thought crosses every student’s mind every once in [...]

Did you know just how useless your degree was going to be?  Undergraduates are always told to carefully pick their degree course because of its employment prospects, but maybe the advice should be more along the lines of ‘make sure you choose something you like, it’s the last thing you’ll be able to enjoy doing [...]

Professor Nicholas Barr’s assertion that “university is largely free” is largely false. As he explains it, HE is only “free at the point of delivery”. This is like New Labour’s mantra for the National Health Service – which doesn’t mean you don’t pay for your treatment/ education later when your income rises above a poverty [...]