Local Government Intelligence
We know that the information provided by universities cannot, by its very nature, be impartial. Students, parents and teachers are increasingly aware of this
Peter Vicary-Smith
A new free and unbiased guide to higher education will be launched later this year by consumer champions Which?, Peter Vicary-Smith told the Meeting Student Expectations, Contract or Partnership conference in London.
The Chief Executive of the charity, which takes no payment from government or business, Mr Vicary-Smith said that the organisation would be able to bring a ‘fresh perspective to the information challenges and how these can be addressed’.
He went on: “The fact that this experience now involves taking on greater levels of personal debt than ever before, makes it even more crucial for people to make the right choices and to get the very most they can from their higher education experience.
“In an increasingly competitive sector, we believe Which? can play a crucial role in helping people choose between the options open to them.”
Which? is doing this to make individuals as powerful as the institutions they have to deal with, Mr Vicary-Smith said.
“Students now have a more direct role in the funding that institutions receive. We know that the information provided by universities cannot, by its very nature, be impartial. Students, parents and teachers are increasingly aware of this.”
He pointed out that students mainly rely on word-of-mouth, league tables and official sites for information about universities, finding other sources confusing.
“Official data such as that on the Unistats website raises questions for them, 'Why is it available for some courses and not others?', and 'What does it really mean?'”
“We actively listen to what people tell us is important to them and then go beyond this to identify important issues that they might otherwise not be aware of,” he added.