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Day: 7 August 2015

EY to disregard degree classifications in application process

‘Big Four’ auditing firm Ernst & Young has changed its application criteria for hiring programmes, after research they conducted suggested there was little correlation between academic achievement and professional achievement.

It will now not required that all applicants have a 2:1 degree classification and 300 UCAS points—equivalent to three Bs at A-level—to apply for a graduate, undergraduate, or school leaver programmes, applications for which opened on the 3rd of August. Instead, applicants will be put on an equal playing field, being judged through numerical tests and assessments of individual strength.

Managing partner for talent Maggie Stilwell said “transforming our recruitment process will open up opportunities for talented individuals regardless of their background and provide greater access to the profession.

“Academic qualifications will still be taken into account and indeed remain an important consideration when assessing candidates as a whole, but will no longer act as a barrier to getting a foot in the door.

“Our own internal research of over 400 graduates found that screening students based on academic performance alone was too blunt an approach to recruitment. It found no evidence to conclude that previous success in higher education correlated with future success in subsequent professional qualifications undertaken.”

EY emphasise that their intellectual standards and value of academic performance will remain high and selective, but wishes to give the firm a “more inclusive culture.”

A study by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission found that leading accountancy firms hired a disproportionate level of students from research-led Russell Group universities. Elite firms “implement mainstream recruitment and selection processes which systematically advantage applicants from more privileged backgrounds, whilst disadvantaging their peers from less privileged backgrounds,” regardless of intelligence.

EY wants to “attract the brightest and most talented individuals,” says Dan Richards, Recruiting Leader for the UK. “The changes we have made to our recruitment process will help us to access the widest and deepest possible talent pools.”

EY also aims to provide resources for individuals interested in applying, in order to help applicants from all backgrounds, many of which may not have access to the information and employability skills that can secure a graduate position.

Burnham promises to remove “millstone of debt” from students

In his Leadership Election manifesto that was released yesterday, Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has claimed that he will replace the current system of student fees with a graduate tax.

The Labour Party’s current policy would be to reduce the £9000 cap on tuition fees imposed by the coalition government in 2012 to £6000, a policy with which they entered May’s General Election, which saw a serious loss for Labour. This would be funded by reducing the tax relief on those with incomes exceeding £150000, with a long-term move to the graduate tax.

Burnham’s proposal, if elected Leader of the Labour Party, would be to remove tuition fees altogether and replace them with a tax on graduates that will, in the long run, cover the cost of tuition.

In 2010, four of the five candidates for Labour leader supported the introduction of such a tax. It is also supported by the Youth Parliament and the NUS.

Under Burnham’s proposals, a commission will be set up to investigate how to meet the shortfall in funds that the universities will have if tuition fees are to be scrapped.

His rival in the leadership race, Yvette Cooper, also supports the graduate tax, where surprise front-runner—according to some sources—Jeremy Corbyn supports scrapping fees and reintroducing maintenance grants, and Liz Kendall has promised to focus on early education.

Burnham’s manifesto promises also strongly emphasise support for young people who are going into technical education. “For decades, Westminster has discriminated against those wanting a technical education,” he states. “I want young people who aspire to apprenticeships to have the same clarity, ambition and sense of purpose as those who aspire to go to university.”

It is for this reason that he wants to establish a UCAS-style admissions system for apprenticeships and extend the provision of student finance to those who go into technical education.

Other promises Burnham makes in his manifesto include affordable housing for all by regulating the private sector, abolishing the lower minimum wage for under-21s, banning unpaid internships, and allowing 16-year-olds to vote, as well as the policy which has made the most headlines, renationalisation of the railways.

His proposal for a commission, modelled upon the Beveridge Report that was the precursor to the NHS, will look at funding of social care, the imposition of a graduate tax, and a rebalance of the taxation system. He names a new set of 21st-century ‘Giant Evils’—“debt, insecurity, inequality, climate change and fear of old age,” and hopes that a fair consensus on how these can be tackled can be reached.

Betting company Ladbrokes currently have Burnham and Corbyn tied at odds of 6/4 to win, with Cooper on 5/2, and Kendall trailing at 50/1.

Festival: Beat-Herder 2015

17th – 19th July

Ribble Valley

9/10

Celebrating its tenth year of beats and barminess, 2015’s Beat-Herder festival once again delighted the senses in Lancashire’s finest landscape. The festival site slots perfectly amid rolling hills and valleys; secluded from any signs of metropolitan life, the infamously supernatural Pendle Hill provides an impressive backdrop, perhaps influencing the magical ambience throughout the weekend. The blustery winds and dramatic rolling clouds added to the festival’s atmosphere, and if anything was dampened by the interludes of rain it certainly wasn’t the crowd’s spirit.

Tumbling down the rabbit hole from the campsite and into the festival grounds, it doesn’t take long to become captivated by the curious offerings: Beat-Herder presents a vast array of stages and attractions, from the perfumed garden, where you can pull up a cushion and inhale the relaxing aromas, to the towering Earthen ring (crafted, according to legend, by a local giant).  Between stages, small areas of the site are transformed into a network of mazes, underground tunnels and secret passageways to perplex and bewilder your body and mind.

Everything at the festival seems to have been brought into being with the utmost care, remaining utterly free of bravado and pretence; mounted unseemingly and modestly in a corner of the festival, a display of plant troughs can be spotted, each hand-painted beautifully and intricately with the names of the artists performing across the weekend.  Wooden carvings, sculptures and hand-written notices are dotted throughout, and we’re encouraged to “Herd ‘Em Up!” as a plane soars across the skies trailed by the famous Beat-Herder slogan.

The music also provides unexpected pleasures. Although the 10th anniversary brought about a host of impressive artists, it was often the smaller and more unlikely acts which garnered the most attention.  Perfect renditions of 90s dance classics were performed by Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, an eight-piece brass band (and tribute to Tony Wilson of the Haçienda and Factory records) kickstarting Friday’s festivities in the recently pimped out Trash Mansion stage—adorned with decadent furnishings and a water fountain, naturally.

Further into the evening on the main stage, Nightmares on Wax’s pulsating soulfulness united the crowd in hypnotic bliss, followed by a wonderfully vibrant performance from dance legends Basement Jaxx; ‘Red Alert’ went off, left the planet at top speed, hurtled through space and blew the minds of fellow Beat-Herdians in a parallel universe. A piercingly perfect falsetto of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ crept up on the crowd before merging effortlessly into ‘Romeo’, and awe-inspiring drum solos pounded to the rhythm of the crowd’s hearts.

Elsewhere over the weekend, the Toil-Trees stage and life-giving lungs of the festival was host to a variety of artists. Krysko and Greg Lord fuelled Friday’s anticipation and excitement, whilst Erol Alkan lulled the crowd into a delicate trance to close the event on the final evening. However, the party atmosphere was certainly not in decline by Sunday. Amongst Beat-Herder’s forest are further hidden shacks and opportunities for exploration—purging your soul of the weekend’s sins is an absolute necessity on Sunday, and what better place than Beat-Herder’s very own mini chapel, complete with pews and a raving Bishop. The presence of an omnipotent being was definitely felt during the renowned Sunday Service, as Jamiroquai’s ‘Satellite of Love’ joined the parishioners in euphoric harmony.

A treasure and triumph of the North, Beat-Herder has managed to maintain its unique togetherness and community spirit despite its increasing size and popularity, and never fails to enchant.