Good university Guide 2009 has been published this week in association with The Independent news paper.

The League Table measures nine key aspects of university activity using the most recent data available at the time of compilation. The aspects are student satisfaction, research assessment, entry standard, student staff ratio,academic services spend, facilities spend, Good honours, graduates prospects, and completion.

Now you can view the subject-specific tables to see the ranking of particular universities (and also university colleges) in the subjects they teach. There are four aspects in this; student satisfaction, Research quality, entry standards, and graduates prospects.

Enjoy playing around with these tables and pick the best university for you.

From EducationGuardian, 2008

Your first decision concerns which two offers from universities you should hold on to, if you have been fortunate enough to get two or more offers. Many students had a 6pm deadline on May 6, but some, who received late decisions, have a date in early June. If either deadline is missed, Ucas may decline the offers automatically. Those with a June deadline should go on to the Track Progress section of the Ucas website to make their decision online. The important principles here are:

· Your firm choice must be where you really want to go.

· Your insurance choice must be where you will be happy to go if you don’t get the grades for your firm choice.

This post for anyone who is about to take IELTS. We have updated the next date and test centres in London.

DOWNLOAD YOUR IELTS APPLICATION FORM HERE NOW

There are 5 test centres in London.

1) International House London

Next test date: 26 July 2008

Address:
IELTS Centre Manager
16 Stukeley Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2B 5LQ

Tel: 020 7611 2410
Fax: 0207 117 4179
Email: ielts@ihlondon.co.uk
Web: http://www.ihlondon.com/ielts

Test Fee: GBP 100.00

2)Southwark College - London

Next test date: 26 July 2008

Address:
IELTS Administrator
The Cut
London
SE1 8LE

Tel: 44 207 815 1608
Fax: 44 207 261 1301
Email: IELTS@southwark.ac.uk
Web: http://www.southwark.ac.uk

Test Fee: GBP 100.00

3)Eurocentres

Next test date: 26 July 2008

Address:
21 Meadowcourt Road
London
SE3 9EU

Tel: ++44 208 297 1488
Fax: ++44 208 318 9057
Email: ielts@eurocentres.com
Web: http://www.eurocentres-ielts.com

Test Fee: £100.00

4)University of Westminster

Next test date: 26 July 2008

Address:
IELTS Test Centre
309 Regent Street
Room 254
London
W1B 2UW

Tel: 44 207 911 5000
Fax: 44 207 915 5492
Email: ielts@wmin.ac.uk
Web: http://www.wmin.ac.uk/ielts

Test Fee: GBP 100.00

5)Middlesex University

next test date: 26 July 2008

Address:
IELTS Administrator
The Testing Centre, Middlesex University,
The Burroughs, Hendon
London
NW4 4BT

Tel: 44 20 8411 5335
Email: ielts@mdx.ac.uk
Web: www.lr.mdx.ac.uk/ielts

Test Fee: GBP 100.00

Good Luck to you all!

Next Event: Saturday 14th June, 2008. 11am - 4pm.

If you are an International Student looking to study at pre-university, undergraduate, or postgraduate level in the UK then the International Student Fair is the event for you!

The International Student Fair provides international students one on one contact with representatives from over 60 colleges and universities from around the United Kingdom. They can answer all your questions and queries and give you all the information needed to help you determine which course is right for you.

You can also get advice on accommodation, talk to the UK Border Agency (formally UK Visa’s) about your visa options plus get advise on writing a UK CV and find out the different employment and recruitment opportunities for after you graduate.

The International Student Fair has all the information an International student needs in one place!

Each visitor receives a free goody bag and has the opportunity to win some awesome prizes.

The Fair is held at the:
New Connaught Rooms
61-63 Great Queen St,
London, WC2B 5DA

5 Minutes walk from Covent Garden (Piccadilly line) and Holborn (Piccadilly and Central lines) tube stations.

Register now for your FREE tickets

From Education UK and Hot courses,2008

It may seem like an obvious question but there are many benefits of choosing to study at a language school and in particular, choosing to study English in the UK.

Attending a language school is a brilliant way to achieve two goals. To see, live and breathe a foreign country and study its language. Language schools often teach students in an intensive way and when this is combined with living in the country of the language you are studying you really do become completely immersed in the language and its culture. In fact, many language schools have developed this idea further and often include history and sightseeing trips as part of the course meaning that students really can learn all about the new country they are living in. But why live in the country while you study? Well the benefits are obvious; you will be using English as part of your everyday life and so the opportunities to improve are endless. Simple, everyday things such as listening to the radio, watching TV and going shopping wills serve to develop your language skills much quicker than any regular classroom course can.

But there’s a great language school around the corner from me, I hear you cry!

With the weather beginning to improve and exams nearly over it’s nearly time to party the summer away. And we all know what the British summer is like so we’d best make the most of it! We’ve compiled a list of some of the summer’s hottest music festivals and there really is something for everyone. Be sure to check them out and book tickets quickly as they’re sure to sell out.

Having said that, torrential rain, flash floods, last-minute cancellations and cars trapped in a sea of glutinous mud kick off the festival season in May this year. So a traditional British summer and a traditional start to the period!

Britain’s leading sustainable music festival, the Sunrise Celebration, was cancelled at the last minute after torrential rain turned the festival site near Yeovil, Somerset, into a quagmire. Early arrivals had to be towed off the site, while police and stewards turned away many of the 6,500 festival-goers who had not heard the news. Be sure to check back regularly to make sure you’re not affected!

July

O2 Wireless Festival
Date: July 3-6
Location: Hyde Park, London
Headliners: Morrissey, Counting Crows, Fatboy Slim, Beck, Ben Harper, more TBC
Tickets: £40 (day ticket), £139 (club package), £179 (VIP package).

The UK is the second most popular place in the World for international students to study. In fact, the UK accounts for more than 20% of the world’s international students; over 340,000 international students come to the UK each year. If you are thinking about coming to the UK to study there are many things you’re surely considering: Where will I live? What’s the country like? What should I bring? To help you begin your research we will tell you a little about the UK and British culture. We’ll give you a brief rundown on what to expect as an international student studying in the UK.

The Country

The UK is made up of three countries, England, Scotland and Wales and of the Universities in the Good University Guide 2009, 90 can be found in England, Scotland has 14, there are 8 in Wales and finally 2 in Northern Ireland. It is apparent why the UK is an educational leader and why it is so popular with international students.

Follow the devolvement of power from London and the creation of a Parliament in Scotland and an Assembly in Wales, many policies governing universities have been changed.

The beauty of studying overseas is that you will be immersed in both the language and culture of the country, experiencing local customs, people and activities such as sports. With language courses available all over the world, you really can choose to study in a place that reflects your lifestyle and personality. You can plan to study a language course overseas just as you would a holiday – big, metropolitan cities, tourist towns, quiet English village or exotic, tropical location – and you can quickly see the benefits of combining study and travel. So with many things to consider – which school, which course, where to stay and arranging it all – we’ve come up with this guide to choosing the ideal language course.

Schools

There are many languages that you could choose to learn, let alone the thousands of course programmes across the globe that are available to you. As you would expect, however, the quality of the courses and teaching methods can vary so you should always look out for independent school association memberships at the very least. If you want access to programmes which are routinely inspected and so guaranteed to be of a high standard, you should look for endorsement from the country’s education ministry.

There are so many great reasons for learning a foreign language that we thought we’d bring you ten of the best! Learning a foreign language could really be a great idea and in ways that perhaps you hadn’t considered. We think that to just remain monolingual, like other things in life, just forces self-constrained limitations on you. We live in a fantastically richly cultures world and we should all strive to understand and learn as much about our world’s diversity as possible. By not learning a foreign language you could limit your communication and thinking skills but more importantly, you may miss out on a whole host of opportunities for personal, professional, social and economic development and success. Sick and tired of reading things like “Cold shredded children and sea blubber in spicy sauce” on menus? There are many foreign languages that you could choose to earn – French, Spanish or English for example. Here is why you should be learning a foreign language.

1. To Widen your Understanding

Learning a foreign language allows you to fully appreciate the culture and its context of a country. By understanding a person’s culture, for example, you can avoid situations which could cause misunderstandings.