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30 September 2016
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InQuire The University of Kent’s student newspaper
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Issue 12.4
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Kent in top five in the South East
Photo by University of Kent
By Joanna Hughes Writer
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he University of Kent has been named in the top five universities in the South East by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2017. Kent comes under the Universities of Oxford, Surrey, Sussex, and Southampton, and retains last year’s nationwide ranking of 23rd in the country. This ranking comes as the University has been shortlisted for a Times Higher Education (THE) award in the DataPoints Merit Award category. This award is designed to recognise exceptional performance across university teaching and research in the UK. It is based on data from the THE’s mock Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF), and the publication’s own most recent World University Rankings. Dame Julia Goodfellow, vicechancellor of the University, said: “This latest good news for Kent reflects our commitment to becoming a beacon of excellence in education and research in our region, nationally and internationally. “It also reflects the commitment of our worldclass researchers and educators to providing one of the best student experiences in the UK.” The University has also achieved great success this year, being ranked in the top 10 in seven subject areas. Continued on page 3
Kent law student celebrates success By Annie Trafford Writer
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he Kent Law School has proved it provides top-notch education as one of its students has won a significant court case. Uzochi Ejimofor is going into the final year of her law degree, and became involved with the case when she chose to study the Kent Law Clinic module this year. The 23-year-old started by taking notes at court for the case before the start of term, following an email from the department. She went on to meet the client, who was being sued by their landlord, when she had to take
down a witness statement. She describes how herself and Vivien Gambling, the solicitor she was teamed with for this case, arrived at court early to make sure everything was in place. “The room where the hearing took place was very normal and small, with a large desk in the middle, separating everyone from the judge. “The face the room was like this made everything quite chilled and not too intimidating,” she said. “My role was to sit at the back and take detailed notes. The most important thing to note down was how the witnesses answered questions during the
cross-examination, and also the judgement at the end. “My notes were needed as evidence and to supplement the notes the solicitor took herself.” The case itself centred around property tycoon Fergus Wilson, who was suing his tenants, Attila Lant and Eva Nemeth, for damage at a property on Wood Lane, Ashford. Mr Wilson was called to the house when the tenants reported a leak, which was believed to be an emergency. They then found out that their landlord was suing them for failing to carry out repairs at the property, as he believed they had deliberately caused the damage.
The case was taken up by the Kent Law Clinic, which offers legal advice to people who can’t otherwise afford it. In this case, the tenants counter-claimed for the misery of living with the disrepair, the breach of the landlord’s repairing obligations, and interfering with the tenants’ peaceful enjoyment of their former home. Although this counter-claim was thrown out of court by the judge, Mr Lant and Miss Nemeth were awarded £2,500 in damages. Miss Ejimofor said: “I was very pleased with the outcome of the case, and felt lucky to be involved in such a good cause.”