News

Broken headboards, flooding, fire damage and stained mattresses are the most common forms of damage done by Scottish students in their halls of residence. New figures show that universities in Scotland have suffered over £600,000 worth of damage by their own students in the last five years, with an average of seven new cases each day.

Figures have been taken from all of Scotland's 21 universities since the year 2006, with the total amount of damage adding up to £610,000, spread over 14,000 different cases.

Aberdeen University has the dubious honour of having the most reckless students, as it recorded £144,000 worth of damage in the past five years. However, the university claimed that the vast majority of the damage caused was simply through everyday use and that very few students are ever fined for damage to their rooms:

"Most of the damage is identified once the students have vacated the property and it is unlikely to lead to disciplinary action...Students who have persisted in causing vandalism have been evicted from student residences."

Two giant pandas are to be the first to live in the UK for 17 years after they were flown over from China to Edinburgh Zoo on Sunday. Tian Tian, meaning ‘Sweetie', and Yang Guang, meaning ‘Sunshine', are said to be settling in well but are still a little jet lagged.

The pandas arrived as part of developing links between Scotland and China, and have been lent to the zoo from Bifengxia Panda Base. After a couple of weeks of settling in to their new home, they will go on show to the public from Friday 16th December and are expected to stay at the zoo for at least the next ten years.

Five Years Effort

The pandas have a brand new £250,000 enclosure and Edinburgh Zoo's director of business operations, Gary Wilson, revealed:

"They are getting on very well. We were really surprised how well they settled into their enclosure. They are obviously quite jet lagged. They are in a strange sequence of sleeping for two hours and eating for two hours, a bit like most humans when they fly half way around the world."

The pair were transported on a nine-hour flight during which they ate a mixture of bamboo, apples, mineral water and a special cake. As they arrived in Scotland it marked the culmination of five years of effort by the zoo and they were greeted by crowds of people all hoping for a glimpse.

Whether you are a first-time student studying for a degree or a mature student going back to university after working for a while, it is always worth doing whatever you can to improve your CV while studying. There are very good reasons for this, chief among which is that having work experience matters. When there are so many graduates and others going for every single job, you need to do what you can to stand out.

Plus, enhancing your CV now by developing your skills and getting some valuable experience in the world of work will stand you in good stead for the future - and you might even be able to apply the knowledge you've learnt studying in a practical setting, which will benefit your education, too.

While you are studying, it can be a very good idea to do some voluntary work. This is a good option for many students as there is a wide range of work choices available. For instance, you could become a charity fundraiser, developing your communication skills. Alternatively, you could spend time at an old people's home or a kids' club, or teach your native language as a foreign language - all occupations that will look great on your CV and develop your transferable skills.

On the Foreign Students Blog we like to share with you interesting news from around the world and feature the very best content the web has to offer.

'The Hedgehog'  by Pavel Smirnov, is an intimate short-film about a boy and his new pet hedgehog, Pavel is a student of Cinema and Television at St. Petersburg state university in Russia and has received international recognition for his camera work.

The film is an adaptation of a novel by Grigory Gorin, the story in this film centres around a father who is trying to watch a football match at home, only to be hindered by the bad signal of his television, which makes it difficult to follow the game.

While this alone is troublesome for the man, soon his young son returns to their house bearing a gift inside a hat, a prickly hedgehog which the boy had recently exchanged in return for a valuable lottery ticket...

View the film below in Russian with English subtitles, also available in high definition:

The landscape of the UK higher education system has gone through a huge process of change over the past year and the effects this change will bring are still largely unknown. One group of students who face increasing uncertainty over their position in the system are foreign students. With international student visas becoming harder to obtain and EU students facing the same increased fees as UK students, many feel that overseas students are being marginalised.

A recent study (Patterns and Trends in UK Higher Education) showed that international student numbers have increased hugely in the last decade, but as the new rules are introduced, the real question is whether this trend can continue.

Increased Tuition Fees

There are a number of issues to be considered when addressing this question. First of all, there is the fact that EU students, just like British students, are facing the new £9,000 a year tuition fees from 2012 onwards. This sudden tripling of the fees will inevitably make European students think twice about coming to study in the UK, especially when there is already more expense and effort involved to study outside of their own country.