Recent statistics from UCAS have revealed that overall applications to universities are down by almost 9% nationwide and almost 10% in England. While these percentages seem like small change, this drop represents approximately 45,000 individuals who have decided that university isn’t for them. It’s perhaps not coincidental that this drop comes as the new academic year sees a major tuition fee hike from £3000 to £9000 per year. Interestingly, the demogra...

Some people argue that there is nothing special about student volunteers. Perhaps the activities they take part in do not necessarily differ from other ‘volunteer-types’. However, (and sorry to bore you with statistics) in a recent study Georgina Brewis et.al found that 63% of surveyed students reported to have formally volunteered since they had started university. This percentage is significantly higher than the national standard with 40% of adults volunteering ...

Today marks the beginning of Student Volunteering Week 2012, organised by Volunteering England. Currently in its 11th year, the campaign’s theme is Back to basics: community roots, turning the spotlight on informal volunteering and community action. According to Volunteering England, 63% of students take part in some form of formal voluntary activity whilst at university and 95% of students who volunteer are driven to do so out of a desire to improve things or to help people - pr...