Opinion Panel

Following the appointment of Professor Les Ebdon as Director of the Office of Fair Access, debate over using contextual data in universities admission decisions has been rife.

With figures showing the UK economy shrank by 0.2% in the last quater of 2011, and many forecasting imminent recession, how do you feel about economic prospects for 2012?

Since 2003, The Votes at 16 coalition has campaigned to lower the voting age. And after Alex Salmond proposed to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in the Scottish independence referendum, their campaign has recently gained momentum. With the persistent lack of political engagement and low voter turn out among young people, is it time [...]

Past polls

Currently 47% of young people are entering Higher Education. The Labour government had a target of 50%. Current projections point to reduced number from 2012. Past polls

With tuition fees set to almost triple at some universities next year, competition for places on courses starting in 2011 was fierce. Facing higher fees, many are facing tough decisions about future study. For those lucky enough to have started university in the last year before the rise: Past polls

Analysing the media treatment of Amanda Knox, Jake Richards concludes that the Knox family’s PR efforts eventually suceeded in shifting public opinion of Amanda Knox away from the British tabloids’ presentation of her as a manipulative killer towards viewing her as an innocent victim. Jennifer Lipman claims Knox was the victim of a combination of “social [...]

In his speech at the Lib Dem conference, Nick Clegg claimed that “the most heat wrenching” of all the “difficult decisions” his party has so far faced during their time in government was the decision to support the rise in tuition fees. Saying that “the Conservatives and Labour were both set on increasing fees”, he [...]