Staff and students from across the university react to the Board’s decision to cut hundreds of staff posts, which anxious staff say could lead to a ‘student marking boycott’

Students express serious concern after the closure of a course that provides a large amount of voluntary mental health care to the city

In a petition, they demand the university acknowledge its commitment to social responsibility and widening participation

Wednesday’s spending review heralds massive cuts for student nurses and higher education more broadly

Six months on from the General Election, Polly Bartlett takes a look into the effects of austerity on Manchester’s most vulnerable

The Conservatives green paper, Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice, has been accused of “holding our young people and our country back” by Lucy Powell MP.

George Bolton looks at how David Cameron’s PR-managed answers could be harming his credibility in the long run

Policy Exchange, a leading think tank, has proposed cuts to Higher Education grant funding, with the funds to be redirected to further education

The National Union of Students has begun legal action against the government’s plans to scrap maintenance grants on the basis of the implications for equality

Thomas McEvilly contemplates the problems caused by ‘selfish’ diseases inherent in our floundering NHS

– Liam Burns concerned that violence may hamper #Demo2012 – Millbank protest left ‘a cloud over the organisation’

Kevin Bennett considers the likely impact of government plans to cut the number of MPs and redraw constituency boundaries

Combined studies will no longer be offered as a degree option by the University of Manchester. The course will be phased out, allowing this year’s new undergraduates to complete their final year, but no candidates will be admitted in 2011/12.The course allowed students to study in two separate and otherwise unrelated academic areas. The first year of the course featured a mandatory volunteering project, where students raised money and awareness for charities in Manchester both nationally and internationally.Students were not informed about the possibility of the course being withdrawn until the decision was finalised. In the final weeks of the last academic year, students were shown around the potential location for a new combined studies common room, and encouraged to give their feedback.In July, new and returning students were sent a letter informing them that “following a review of the programme by the Faculty of Humanities[…] Combined Studies will admit its final cohort of first year students in 2010.google

Twitter was busy this week with Manchester students moaning about the cold whilst protesting against cuts outside the Tory conference in Birmingham. Black and red posters appeared hastily pasted up in their usual fashion around the campus, “Stuff your cuts, we won’t pay!” read the slogans. But it’s not just the Commies who are upset; there is an atmosphere on campus from many students and staff that they are on a collision course with the Conservative-Liberal government.