This is a very busy period in the academic calendar, and can be a stressful time for our staff and students. Do look after yourselves, each other and our students, and point colleagues and students to relevant support if needed and/or please reach out yourself. This is a brief update on what is happening across the sector and at Queen Mary.
There continues to be a lot of discussion across political parties about the funding model for higher education. Whichever party gets into power at the next general election, it is very unlikely that either the UK tuition fee or direct government funding will increase to offset inflation. This is a big challenge for us and other research-intensive universities, as the data shows that the cost of teaching students in universities like ours is greater than the actual amount of funding we get for UK students. This means we have to look at further increasing our efficiency in our teaching activities, and other sources of income to support our core activities.
International students are a big part of what makes Queen Mary a fantastic place to study and work: the diversity of views, cultures and backgrounds on our campuses lead to the vibrancy our students and staff enjoy so much. We are proud to welcome over 170 different nationalities onto our campuses. Over 36 per cent of students on our London campuses are overseas students. This is a lower proportion than many other Russell Group universities and we are looking to see how we can increase that proportion, in line with our values, to create a truly international experience where all students can flourish and reach their full potential. There is an excellent report showing the economic, cultural and societal value that international students bring to the UK, which was published earlier this week by HEPI, London Economics, Kaplan and UUK. Do have a read as it dispels many of the myths that are circulating.
On 10 May, we welcomed Gillian Keegan MP, Secretary of State for Education, accompanied by Sir Steve Smith (the Government’s International Education Champion) and ministers from countries all over the world. As part of the visit, the delegation met with our partners in the London City Institute of Technology, including Newham College and employer representatives, and enjoyed some interactive demonstrations of our research and education. As usual the students who met the delegation (in this case these were student apprentices) were fantastic ambassadors for Queen Mary. It was a very successful visit and I would like to thank everyone who helped make it happen.
On 2 May, we opened a new teaching facility in Ilford, Redbridge. This will primarily be for medical education, and has the potential to also be used for outreach activities with the local community. It is a great space in the heart of Ilford, and includes a mock ward. Redbridge Council has warmly welcomed our move into the borough, and longer term we may look to see how we can build on the partnership with Redbridge and increase our presence there.
The staff survey is open. If you haven’t filled it in, please do so! You will have received an email inviting you to access the survey from Queen Mary Surveys via Culture Amp notifications@cultureamp.com. It closes a week on Friday. We need as many staff as possible to fill the survey in, to ensure the action we take together is informed by everyone’s views.
There are some updates on our research from across our faculties on our website: please have a look at our research highways and the videos highlighting research case studies presented by our staff – as well as leading in their respective fields we certainly have some TV stars in the making! The current data on research income continues to look good, and I heard just this week about a major cross-faculty application shortly to be submitted to ESRC, supporting multi-disciplinary research. Do please keep applying to Horizon Europe: this is an excellent time to apply since there is significant research funding available. We are looking forward to our Research and Innovation Awards ceremony next week when the winners in the different categories will be announced: good luck to all the entrants!
On 24 April, the Russell Group launched their latest report Education and Skills for Growth which highlights how learning in an innovative, high-quality, research intensive environment is giving students the skills they need to succeed and help grow the UK economy.
Only five students attended the event to help with the launch and all were from Queen Mary, with one of our students Sonal Jain on the panel of speakers alongside Matt Western MP, Lisa Roberts from the University of Exeter and Paul Kett from the Department for Education. Sonal spoke passionately about how much she was enjoying her time at Queen Mary, and the value of balancing her studies here with time applying her learning on an apprenticeship at Goldman Sachs.
Lastly, I was delighted to learn that two of our students have been named undergraduates of the year in the nation-wide TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards. In addition to the two winners, seven of our other students made it through to the finals of this competition, which attracts over 4,700 applications from across the UK. This is a truly fantastic achievement by our students and I’m sure you will join me in congratulating them! Read our news story.
It is great to see our students being so successful and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff for your support, passion, and commitment to all our students to ensure they can flourish and succeed in their chosen career paths.
I will write to you again when there is a further update to share.
Best wishes,
Colin