Another hard day in the library Oxford is planning to introduce contracts requiring students to attend lectures. But is that any way to spend your university years? Germaine Greer and John Sutherland debate the issue. Oxford lecture attendance could become legal requirement

Strings attached to university funds Universities will have to run more courses for the benefit of employers and redouble efforts to attract working-class students in return for £6.5bn of funding, education secretary says. Full text: Ruth Kelly's letter (pdf) Special report: University funding

Greenfield to become Heriot-Watt chancellor Lady Greenfield is to be installed this week as the new chancellor of Heriot-Watt University. More careers news

DNA damage from eating red meat linked to cancer
February 1, research: Eating large quantities of red meat can increase your risk of bowel cancer by producing substances in the gut that damage DNA, study reveals.
Mathematician defines beauty in new exhibition
More research news

Flush students to cruise towards degrees
January 31: The traditional student study year abroad is set to take a new twist with the launch of the Scholar Ship - the first study-at-sea programme for undergraduates and postgraduates.
More student news

£50m building for Strathclyde
January 31: The University of Strathclyde is to close its Jordanhill campus and move its education faculty to a new building.

There is no stop button in the race for human re-engineering
Madeleine Bunting: Science will soon give some of us the tools to make ourselves cleverer and stronger. What will it mean for our humanity?
For more comment

Cancerous thought
Leftwing hegemony in the academy stifles debate and, in doing so, risks lives, says Dorothy King.
More higher comment

Prof-hunts
John Sutherland on the websites that are undermining academic authority in America.

State pupils turn back on university
The proportion of state school students going to university has dipped and drop-out rates have risen, according to figures published today.
University case studies
Special report: University access

University figures show sharp research divide
A story of research princes and paupers is told in today's figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency - and the paupers seem to be working very hard to keep up.
More research news

The numbers crunched
Tables for university access and research by country

The Guardian University Guide 2006 Order the indispensable guide to choosing a university.

Tables: flawed but here to stay
English universities will have to get used to the idea of being ranked.
Full tables 2003-05 here
University guide 2006

Who comes top in your subject?
Our interactive guide to universities and colleges for 2005 is the result of over 100,000 calculations and is the most comprehensive on the web.
Oxford is best, but don't rule out the rest
How the tables are compiled
Wish they weren't here?

Entry to degree course gets even tougher
Youngsters who have applied to university this year will find it harder than ever to secure a place, the head of the government's higher education funding body warned yesterday.
Jimmy Leach: Access overload
Special report: University funding

Not playing ball with the underdogs
With variable fees on the horizon there's no point messing with the higher education funding formula, insists the funding council. Fine for the older universities, but the new institutions are not amused, says Donald MacLeod

Higher Education Funding Council for England - summary of grant allocations 2005-06

The winners: the top 20 institutions
The losers: the bottom 20 institutions

Postcode lottery for university entrants
Researchers find school leavers from 'good' areas six times more likely to go on to higher education than those from poorer parts.
Things can only get better in Nottingham
'Where I come from, people just go to work'
Survey says you are where you live
Equality 'would double university admissions'
Case study: Sheffield - a city of class division
Table: Top 20 constituencies
Table: Bottom 20 constituencies
Special report: University access

Participation rates per constituency: South east | South west | London | East of England | East Midlands | West Midlands | Yorkshire | North east | North west | Scotland | Wales

Sign up for a better job
Our unique higher education Jobmatch service is designed to find jobs tailored to your individual skills and experience. Once you've signed up and entered your CV details, Guardian Jobmatch will find suitable vacancies and send them to you by email. Register now at and let us do the work for you.

Education Weekly
The Guardian's Tuesday supplement all in one handy place.

Academic news emailed direct to you
Sign up for Higher Noon our twice weekly email service of news, views and comment from the world of higher education.

Don't like what you read?
Then tell us in our feedback section.

Work your way round the web
The best academic links around.