“We are extradordinary people capable of extraordinary things”
Jennifer Hogwood’s art makes me feel over the Moo-n! Culture Page 20
www.inquiremedia.co.uk
InQuire The University of Kent’s Student Newspaper
Tories lose ground in Canterbury Conservatives lose 8 seats in Canterbury • Also lose 1,330 nationally • Worst local election results since 1995 • UKIP lose only two candidates By Jordan Ifield Newspaper News Editor
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he local council elections saw the Conservatives lose eight seats in Canterbury among a backlash against the government’s handling of Brexit. This included leader of Canterbury Council, Simon Cook, who lost the seat to Liberal Democrat, Mike Sole, by a margin of 238 votes. Speaking to Kent Online, the defeated Cook said that he had “no regrets”. He said: “We ran a very good council for four years and I am pleased with what we have done – but it is a big shame. Life goes on.” The city will remain Conservative-run but will have to be more willing to compromise with their counterparts in other parties.
Bill Bowkett’s insightful experience on living with autism Feature Page 12
Labour were the main beneficiaries of the election in the constituency, winning seven councillors. The Liberal Democrats doubled their councillors from three to six. UKIP lost their only two candidates. In total, the Tories lost 75 councillors across Kent, as they went on to lose 1,330 councillors in England, their worst result in local council elections since 1995 when they lost over 2,000. Notable losses included Folkestone & Hythe, no overall control; Gravesham, Labour gain; and Swale. Many pundits have since speculated that these results signify a backlash of the government’s handling of Brexit and may be further displayed in the upcoming European Parliament elections later this month. More on the EU elections on page 3...
Photo by The Complete University Guide
Friday 17 May 2019 14.11
Photo by the University of Kent
Kent drops to 49th in University Rankings By Bill Bowkett Newspaper Editor
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he University of Kent has dropped five places to 49th in the Complete University Guide league table for 2020. This shocking news is the first and only result yet received about the University’s overall rankings for 2019, as other prominent League Tables such as the Guardian and the Times Higher Education (THE) have yet to be released. This is the lowest position the University has held in the past decade. Last year, the University saw one of the largest drops in University rankings, going from 25th in 2018 to 44th in 2019. The University of Kent, which was granted its Royal Charter on 4 January 1965, is no longer the best higher education institution in Canterbury, with the improvement of the University of the Creative Arts (UCA) which has seen a seven-place rise to 48th. Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) now finds itself in the bottom 20, with the public university finding itself 117th, down 6. Cambridge retains its place at the top of the table with Oxford retaining second place. The standings - which rank more than 120 higher education centres are based on ten measures, ranging from entry standards and student satisfaction, to research quality and graduate prospects. Universities are
also ranked in more than 70 subject categories, as well as student-staff ratios and facilities. Dr Bernard Kingston, chairman of The Complete University Guide, said: “The evidence is clear; the increased emphasis, including funding, on employability and career planning within academic departments and student services is bearing fruit.” “Many institutions now have this as a core element of their strategic plans with the introduction of innovative programmes of subject-specific careers events focussed on embedding and signposting graduate destinations.” The University has been approached for comment. In an interview last September, Vice-Chancellor Karen Cox told InQuire that the University of Kent’s league rankings were due to a number of factors. She explained: “For one, it is effected by the way we calculate the Students and staff ratio. “It needs tightening up. We are also looking into the quality of staff we hire in light of the rising financial constraints facing workers. “And the second reason is the National Student Survey, particularly on areas to do with feedback and assessment. “It seems reasonable and rational that you [students] want feedback on your work and we will make sure staff and ourselves are aware of this.” “It is good for us to stand back and
ask, ‘what do we need to do?’, rather than just continuing to do what we have always done.” This year’s student-staff ratio, according the CUG collection, marginally decreased to 18, meaning that for each staff member there are currently 18 students. Although these figures suggest that each student would have less contact time with academic staff, the CUG states in its criterion that “a low student to staff ratio does not guarantee good quality of teaching or good access to staff”. Many ranking tables even dispute the necessity and impact of this feature, with the Guardian arguing that the ratio of the number of staff members to students does not accurately reflect teaching intensity and does not reveal who is performing the teaching. The University of Kent’s research and teaching intensity has remained incredibly high, ranking 0.85 out of 1. Its teaching quality is ranked as Gold by the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Graduate prospects have decreased to 78.0 out of 100.0, down 4.4 from 2019, and the average UCAS tariff score of new students entering the university has reduced from 137 to 134. Student satisfaction, based on data from the National Student survey (NSS) for final-year undergraduate students, is another area which Kent has dropped in, going from 4.04 out of 5.00 in 2019 to 3.99 this year.