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University Life under Strain
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The quality of university life is under strain
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from the relentless expansion of higher education,
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leading independent schools in Britain complained.
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The warning followed survey of the impressions of campus life
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gained by former pupils of the schools.
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Infrequent contact with tutors,
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worries over student safety,
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and even grumbles over the food
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were all seen as symptoms of the pressure on universities.
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Head teachers said that standards could well drop
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if the squeeze on university budgets continued.
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A survey was carried out because of fears
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that the level of pastoral care in universities has declined.
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A number of students’suicides
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had raised concerns among head teachers.
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Although most of the 6,000 students surveyed
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were enjoying university life,
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almost a third were less satisfied with their course.
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About one in ten had serious financial problems
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and some gave alarming accounts of conditions
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around their halls of residence.
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Incidents quoted included a fatal stabbing
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and shooting outside a hall of residence,
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the petrol-bombing of cars near another residence,
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and two racist attacks.
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Nine percent of women and seven percent of men rated security
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as unsatisfactory in the area where they lived.
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The survey confirmed head teachers’fears about contact
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between students and tutors slipping,
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with a quarter of the students seeing their tutor
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only every three weeks.
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New students, used to regular contact with their teachers,
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found it hard to adapt to the change.
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Interview techniques were a cause for concern,
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ith the school calling for more training of the university staff
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involved in admissions.
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Some headmasters complained that interview
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ere increasingly “eccentric”.
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One greeted an applicant by throwing him an apple.
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Another interview lasted only three minutes.
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About a quarter of the students found the workload at university
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heavier than they had expected.
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There were differences between subjects,
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with architecture,
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engineering, veterinary science,
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medicine and some science subjects demanding the most work.
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The survey also confirmed previous concerns about possible racial bias
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in admissions to medical courses.
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Applicants with names suggesting an ethnic minority background
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had been rejected by white candidates with the same qualifications.