News

Every week we bring you a round up of all the student news from the past week, as well as the trends hitting the web at the moment. This week's includes 

The oldest of the four major championships in golf, the British Open, teed off yesterday at the Royal St George's Golf Club in Kent. The current leaderboard is an odd mix of experience and youth, with English amateur Tom Lewis sharing top spot with the 40-year-old Dane Thomas Bjorn.

In sharing the lead overnight, the previously unknown Tom Lewis has set all sorts or records. It is the first time an amateur has led the championship in 43 years and his first round of 65 (five under par) is a record score by an amateur at the Open. Understandably, Lewis is ecstatic with his progress, revealing:

"I was just thrilled to be here, but to shoot 65 the first round was something I wouldn't have thought. I was just happy to get the drive off the tee at the first."

However, any thoughts of winning the tournament are a long way away, as there is still another three rounds of 18 holes to play before a winner is announced. What's more, if there are two or more players tied after all that, there is then a four-hole playoff to decide who pockets the £900,000 winner's pot.

News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks has resigned from her post after sustained pressure from the media, government and public for the last fortnight. Her departure comes less than a week after the News of the World newspaper, of which Brooks was editor for three years, was closed down.

It was revealed two weeks ago that the British paper, which is owned by News International, had hacked thousands of people's mobile phones whilst Brooks was editor, including murdered teenager Milly Dowler. Ever since, Rupert Murdoch owned News International has come in for intense criticism from all sides and Brooks' resignation had seemed inevitable. Still, it is a big blow for the news company, with Ms Brooks Murdoch's most senior newspaper executive in Britain.

The biggest lottery jackpot ever seen in Europe has been won by a single British ticket. The so far anonymous winner matched all seven numbers to pocket the £161million Euromillions jackpot.

No one had won for 14 weeks and so the jackpot had grown and grown through multiple rollovers. This led to the massive amount of 185 million euros which will catapult the lucky winner to 430th position on the British rich list once they reveal themselves.

The Higher Education system in the UK is in a period of huge change as new government legislation is affecting everything from tuition fees to international visas. To keep you right up to date with how these changes may affect you, here is a summary of the recent developments.

International Student Numbers Expected to Double

The number of non-EU international students coming to study in the UK is expected to double in the next four years as universities look to benefit from the extra money they bring in tuition fees.

Some notable examples include Durham University which is planning for a 97% rise in the number of international students between now and 2014-15, and Exeter which expects a 73% rise.

This would continue the current trend which saw the number of non-EU students rise by 7.8%, from 2009 to 2010, with a 27.8% increase in students from China and a 20.4% rise in students from Singapore.

Brazilian Students Encouraged to Study in UK

The British universities minister, David Willetts, flew to South America last month to set up a scheme that will encourage 10,000 Brazilians to come and study in the UK. The Brazilian government would provide scholarships of up to £18,700 per student to give its brightest students the chance to study at a world class university in the UK.