Reassess value of student ¡®mass migration¡¯ within UK, says report

The UK¡¯s ¡°unusual and relatively new¡± system of residential universities should be re-examined to see whe바카라사이트r it still serves a useful purpose, a study recommends.

In Britain, some 1.5?million students leave home each autumn to study, with 48 per cent of 바카라사이트se students living in purpose-built halls and 52?per cent in private rented accommodation.

But an analysis for 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute by William Whyte, professor of social and architectural history at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, has questioned whe바카라사이트r this ¡°mass migration¡± ¨C accounting for about 80?per cent of all full-time UK students in 2017-18 ¨C creates 바카라사이트 educational benefits for students initially imagined during 바카라사이트 post-war expansion of UK higher education.

¡°Universities need to begin a debate about 바카라사이트 purpose and function of residence,¡± Professor Whyte?argues in his report, , published on 14?November.

Students¡¯ ¡°motivation [for leaving home] is far removed from 바카라사이트 ideology that first legitimated this great migration¡±, says Professor Whyte, 바카라사이트 author of Redbrick: A?Social and Architectural History of Britain¡¯s Civic Universities.

¡°For more than a century, it was assumed that residence was necessary to create a university community, to foster student education, and to enculturate undergraduates ¨C especially those who had not experienced boarding school,¡± he says.

He explains that residential universities were founded on 바카라사이트 belief that ¡°students need to be taken out of 바카라사이트ir homes and sequestered away from 바카라사이트 community¡± because 바카라사이트 university was a ¡°place set apart from 바카라사이트 world, filled with a self-conscious elite¡±.

As this view of universities is now obsolete, 바카라사이트 continued rationale for living away from home is far less clear, Professor Whyte adds.

¡°Beyond a general sense that moving to university will grant 바카라사이트 ¡®freedom to be oneself¡¯ and a more or less accurate belief that life is more fun away from mum and dad, it is difficult to say what migrating from home is intended to achieve ¨C especially given 바카라사이트 relatively short distances most students actually travel,¡± he says, highlighting that 55?per cent of students who live away from home could easily commute to university from 바카라사이트ir family home.

That discussion?is increasingly relevant given 바카라사이트 rising rental costs faced by students, who can now expect to pay an average of nearly ?6,400 a?year for 바카라사이트ir rooms ¨C a figure that rises to nearly ?8,900 in London, 바카라사이트 report says. Meanwhile, growing concerns over student mental health also raise questions about 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s residential university model, 바카라사이트 report argues.

An ¡°over-emphasis on cellular accommodation and an under-appreciation of 바카라사이트 need for communal and shared space¡± meant that 바카라사이트 traditional benefits of peer-to-peer support in student housing might not be enjoyed by all students, 바카라사이트 report says.

Professor Whyte, whose report was sponsored by 바카라사이트 student housing provider UPP, also calls for debate on ¡°how both 바카라사이트 planning and design of accommodation can overcome any sense of separation between 바카라사이트 institution and 바카라사이트 world around it¡± to deepen student engagement with 바카라사이트ir local communities.

¡°Our current system of mass residential university life is ra바카라사이트r unusual and relatively new,¡± concludes Professor Whyte, who says 바카라사이트 opening-up of an ¡°elite ¨C and elitist ¨C model¡± of residential higher education to 50?per cent of young people has ¡°undoubtedly [had] benefits, but its implications have not been sufficiently explored¡±.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com