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ISSUE 702 30 SEPT 2019 exepose.com @Exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Exeter ranks as the fourth least inclusive university in the UK
Image: Rory Selvey
Isabelle Gray Editor
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N 20 September The Times and Sunday Times released their Good University Guide (STGUG) for 2020. The guide details an overall ranking, amongst other statistics, such as social inclusion. Exeter ranked highly overall, achieving the 12th ranking. Exeter also was identified as 2nd in the South West. Despite these notable successes, when it came to social inclusion rankings, Exeter were placed at 111th for so-
cial inclusion out of a total of 115. Social inclusion is rated under percentiles of the following components: state schools (non-grammar), ‘all ethnic’, black attainment gap, deprived areas, deprived areas dropout gap, first generation students, mature students and disabled students. In terms of Exeter’s specific downfalls within social inclusion, it was found that the University’s black attainment gap was at -19.7 per cent, compared to -3 per cent at the University of Bradford, which ranked third overall in the STGUG social inclusion ranking.
The percentage of state school students at Exeter, not including grammar schools, was only at 51.6 per cent. Furthermore, the guide shows that 15.5 per cent of students are working class. Gaia Neiman, Working Class Rep for Feminist Society, said “In a place like Exeter, being working class is not the norm, and thus it doesn’t surprise me that as a university we sit so low in these social inclusion rankings.’’ ‘‘This is clear in the fact that roles like mine need to exist in the first place, to help working class people like me feel
included, where the overwhelming archetype of the Exeter student is that of a wealthy student”. Since the Bracton Law Society Whatsapp scandal, issues of diversity have been much discussed at the University. In March 2018, screenshots were revealed of a group chat with homophobic, racist and sexist language. Students were consequently suspended and the society was later disbanded. Upon the STGUG’s release, the University tweeted the....
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Guild admits to £283k of unpaid taxes Henry Jones News Editor
EXCLUSIVE
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HE Students’ Guild has confirmed to Exeposé that it owes £269,000 of unpaid taxes to the Government, in addition to £14,000 interest on unpaid VAT (Value Added Tax). HM Revenue and Customs recently conducted a review which concluded that students should have been charged VAT on food at the Ram. The Guild have not yet paid this debt, saying they “are challenging the assessment”. They’ve made a hardship request to the Government, arguing that having to pay the debt will be problematic. A Guild spokesperson said: “The Students’ Guild does have sufficient cash in reserve to pay the debt however this will seriously erode our reserves.” The Guild’s yearly sales fell by over 10 per cent last year to just over £2.5 million. In their annual report, the Guild spokesperson had said that “trading has been particularly challenging,” with “significantly reduced numbers of attendees” at both the Ram and the Lemon Grove. They said they “expect to see an improvement in attentence” in the future. The news comes after a restructuring process at the Guild, with Devon Live reporting in July that some staff may be made redundant. In a statement provided at the time, the Guild confirmed that it was consulting its staff “about partially restructuring the organisation”, citing “financial challenges.”
INTERVIEW LIFESTYLE The humans of Exeter
Exeposé speaks to the Guild President on Ram Refurb PAGE 5 Image: Isabelle Gray
tell their stories PAGE 16 Images: Anna Romanovska