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What Exactly is Gangnam Style?!

You can't help but of heard of Gangnam Style in the last few weeks. First of all it flooded the internet and now it has broken free in to the real world. But what is it?

Gangnam Style is a song and dance from South Korean rapper Psy. Though well-known in his home country, the song only went worldwide after racking up millions of views on YouTube. It broke in to the UK top 40 singles chart two weeks ago and has been climbing ever since, reaching number 1 on Sunday. Along the way, it has broken all sorts of records:

  • Psy is the first musician from South Korea to get a UK number 1
  • The original YouTube video of the single is currently approaching 350 million views
  • With almost 3.3 million ‘Likes' the single is the most ‘Liked' YouTube video of all time

Indeed, such has been the success of the song, that Psy has been signed by Justin Beiber's management team in America. If you haven't already seen it, here is the video in question:

Official University Comparison Website Launched

A new tool for students looking to study at British universities was unveiled today, which provides all the vital information needed. The government backed website Unistats has details on every single one of the 31,000 higher education courses in the UK, including how much they will cost, the teaching hours involved and the likely salary graduates will earn.

The website is the latest attempt to promote British universities and help students decipher all the recent changes to tuition fees. This year university applications were down for the first time in years, as the higher tuition fees came in to play. The government hopes that the comprehensive and easily understandable information will encourage those prospective students who have been put off by the confusion of the last year or so. The thinking is, if you are going to be paying £9,000 a year for a course, you want to know exactly what you're getting before you apply.

The Higher Education Funding Council has provided the information for every course in the UK, helping future students find:

London Met’s International Students Allowed to Study…For Now

Friday saw the latest twist in the saga surrounding London Metropolitan University's international students, as the High Court ruled that its students with full immigration status can continue their studies at the institution.

Less than a month ago, the UK Border Agency stripped the university of its right to act as a visa sponsor for non-EU students. This not only meant that London Met could no longer recruit new international students, but also that the existing students (around 2,000 of them) due to return to their studies this week had to find a different institution.

However, after the university strongly denied any wrongdoing and outcry from prominent figures in British higher education, the High Court has given permission to London Met to challenge the decision. It also ruled that whilst the process of appeal was taking place, new and existing international students who had already been granted visas could begin the new academic year at the university.

The Interests of the Students

At the hearing, London Met's lawyer Richard Gordon argued that it "came down to fairness" and that the UKBA's decision was unlawful. Whilst not totally convinced by this, the judge did rule that the university could make a legal challenge through a judicial review.

A statement from UKBA followed, explaining:

Questions Foreign Students Have Always Wanted To Ask

Yesterday we brought you the first in a series exploring the things that international students find strange about the UK. From the food, to the politicians, to the pedestrian crossings, there was plenty of British weirdness on show.

Well, you lucky people haven't had to wait long for part two of this series- in fact, here it is now! Today, we're looking at all those questions that foreign students have about Britain and British students, but have never dared ask.

As with yesterday, the students we spoke to come from around the world but have all studied at both American colleges and British universities. Thanks again go to Tessa who led the discussions, as she came up with some real gems.

And here is where you can get involved. Below is a list of all the questions our students came up with. We want you to vote for your favourite ones (or even come up with your own) over the next few weeks. We'll then answer the most popular questions. Comment below the article with your favourites or let us know on our Facebook page

What Do International Students Find Strange About Britain?

With many of you arriving in the UK for the first time in the next few weeks, you'll probably be wondering quite what to expect. Inevitably there are going to be things you find strange and unusual about Britain that are completely different to your home country.

To help you realise you're not alone we have a series of blog posts from the perspective of international students who have already spent time in Britain. We will be taking a light-hearted look at what they find weird about Britain, the British and their fellow students.

To start us off, creator of IntProblems.com, and ForeignStudents.com regular Tessa, spoke to a group of students. All the students have experienced both American colleges and British universities so are in the perfect position to answer the question:

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