Universities in the UK should be wary of any attempts by the European Commission to take greater control of higher education policy as it could present a threat to institutional autonomy, a vice-chancellor has told a House of Lords committee.
Nationally agreed criteria for the appointment of external examiners are to be introduced, along with a greater role for students in scrutinising the system.
Any attempt to legislate to make it easier for private companies to take over universities could be challenged by one of the government's own watchdogs, it has emerged.
Teaching in universities that are usually ranked towards the bottom of higher education league tables is more consistently of a high standard than instruction at institutions towards the top of the rankings, a study has suggested.
The University of Leeds International Textiles Archive includes embroidery, fibres, stencils and pattern books, slides of processing equipment and stunning fabrics from places as far afield as Indonesia and Italy.
A risk-based approach to quality assurance could lead to more rather than less red tape for universities because the government's reforms are likely to put pressure on standards.
The vice-chancellor of an Australian university is to step down along with his deputy over 鈥渋rregularities鈥 that helped a close relative to secure a place at the institution.
The Astronomer Royal has called for a system of scientific research funding which puts far less stress on 鈥渋mproving efficiency in the 鈥榦ffice management鈥 sense鈥 and sets out to 鈥渕aximize the chance of landmark achievements鈥.
Universities that do not demonstrate 鈥渆xtensive school involvement鈥 in their initial teacher training provision may cease to be able to offer such courses.
A total of 27 universities and colleges have applied to lower their tuition fees in 2012-13 so they can compete for some of the 20,000 cut-price places being created by the government.
Applicants for Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grants will have to identify the national importance of their research for up to 50 years in the future.
Observers have welcomed the news that women will be permitted to submit one fewer output to the 2014 research excellence framework for each period of pregnancy they have during the census period.
Universities wishing to improve the "student experience" have been warned they are placing too much emphasis on satisfaction scores despite their limited usefulness.
The head of outreach programmes at the University of Cambridge has said that students at the institution are "appreciably better" than they were 20 years ago.
The gap between the salaries of workers with postgraduate degrees and those holding only undergraduate degrees has grown significantly, a study has shown.
A substantial collection of material relating to New Jersey-born rock legend Bruce Springsteen has been acquired by Monmouth University in West Long Branch, US.
Universities will have to ditch the conservatism that has allowed them to survive in the past and change at a much greater pace if they are to prosper in the future, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has argued.
More than 450 private colleges have been stopped from recruiting international students after most of them failed to sign up to the Home Office鈥檚 new rules for inspection of the sector.
Lancaster University has announced plans to collaborate with Guangdong University of Foreign Studies to build a new university campus in Guangzhou, China.
An academic involved in the scandal over links between the Gaddafi regime and the London School of Economics is to leave the institution ahead of a report into the affair.
