Cambridge Introduce Admissions Tests

The decision to introduce a written admissions test at Cambridge University has sparked outcry, with many fearing it will only further alienate state school pupils and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The university claims the test is now necessary to gauge pupil’s skills level, since AS levels have been abolished by the government.

Jessica Murray

Cecil Rhodes Statue to Remain Despite ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ Campaign

Oriel College, Oxford University have decided to keep the statue of the Cecil Rhodes despite the Oxford Union voting in favour of its removal. Oriel College have stated that they will take “substantive steps” to address the challenges highlighted by the campaigns regarding the representation of ethnic minorities at the university.

Cally Collier

Student Fitness Levels Tracked by University

Students at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa are being required to wear a Fitbit device that tracks their steps and heart rate at all times, data which will be used to determine 20% of their grade in a health and fitness class. The University commented that it enables students to “be in Africa for spring break and the system will still be recording data” and that will allow the university to see if there is a “correlation between exercise and academic success.”

Jessica Murray

More Animals Tested on at Oxford than Any Other

Oxford has topped another league table; this time for the amount of animals tested on in their labs. Figures show they tested on 226,739 animals in 2014. These included mice, monkeys, guinea pigs and sheep. The data, gathered by Cruelty Free International, found that Edinburgh, University College London, King’s College London and Cambridge followed close behind, each testing on over 150,000 animals in the same year.

Zoe Bancroft