Keegan versus Braverman; Round One
“It’s a sector we should be very proud of”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman appears to be looking to Higher Education to manage headline migration numbers. However, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has suggested she will fight potential Home Office attempts to reduce migration into the UK by reducing the numbers of overseas students, stating that universities were a “hugely valuable” export success. In an interview with the Financial Times, Keegan said she wanted to build on the UK’s booming export market in university education and increase revenues.
Photo Credit: Gillian Keegan official commons photo (link to license)
My staff got us an outstanding;
I repay them with larger class sizes
William Baldwin, Principal of Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC), writes under an AoC post on LinkedIn about the challenges faced by his college, including budget cuts and uncertainty around pay settlements and spiralling energy costs. Baldwin highlights the impact of a decade of underfunding in the FE sector and the cultural devastation caused by structural changes that colleges are forced to make. After the College's highly successful pre-Christmas Ofsted inspection, which was met with a mixture of "elation and relief", he describes how this was followed by the news of a significant budget shortfall for the next academic year.
So, how have I repaid staff for delivering the Ofsted outcome? My thanks to staff has been to announce that we will be increasing class sizes next year. Increasing staff workload, potentially decreasing quality for students. What sort of thanks is that? A pat on the back followed by a kick in the teeth.
English Gothic goes Photovoltaic...
Photo Credit: Christian Richardt (link to license)
The roof of King’s College Chapel in Cambridge is set to be almost entirely covered in solar panels under plans approved last week, writes Tom Lowe in Building Design.
The council's planning committee unanimously approved proposals, despite a recommendation for refusal by the planning officer and strong objections from Historic England. Nearly 500 photovoltaic panels will be installed on the grade I-listed building, built between 1446 and 1515 and considered to be among the finest gothic structures in Europe.
The Cambridge University college aims to decarbonise its operations by 2038, with the panels expected to supply the equivalent of 100% of the chapel’s energy needs.
Carbon Reduction: accelerating towards Net-Zero
The Royal Anniversary Trust recently published its “Accelerating towards Net-Zero” report, a roadmap for carbon reduction in Further and Higher Education institutions. The report resulted from a year-long research project funded by the DfE, known as The Platinum Jubilee Challenge.
This excellent and hugely important report is worth a read. Alternatively, you can read our Knowledge Post here!
and finally, congratulations to...
Stoke on Trent College and...
