An estimated 5,000 students from Manchester’s universities and colleges marched through the city centre last week. Lecturers, parents, and local politicians joined students in bringing Oxford Road to a standstill.

Student Direct: Mancunion, as The Mancunion was known last year, was awarded runner-up in the Guardian Student Media Awards. The River, a Kingston University publication, took first place.

Police charged unarmed, peaceful protesters on horseback and used “heavy-handed” tactics to disrupt protests on Oxford Road last week.

A University of Manchester academic was charged with assaulting a police officer last week. The arrest was made during the third national day of action against the planned cuts to higher education and the proposed rise in tuition fees.

High-profile figures, including Noam Chomsky and Billy Bragg, have sent messages of support to the students occupying a University of Manchester building.

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 Students were not informed about the possibility of the course being withdrawn until the decision was finalised.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

In an exclusive interview, David Nutt’s colleague tells The Mancunion about being ‘told off’ for criticising government drug policy

An ethical dilemma: Two people take an exam. They are of near equal intelligence and good at their subject. One studies for six hours a day before their exam and gets a 2:1. The other student takes a pill for concentration and revises for 10 hours a day. They get a first. The question is: is it cheating? Does the person with a pill for concentration have an unfair advantage?

A 20-year-old female student was attacked in Withington last week as she made her way home from a night out. Police are warning students to take extra care when walking home alone.

The Mancunion speaks to Ed Miliband ahead of his Labour Leadership victory as he gives a Q&A session at University Place.

“I want my images to show them not as victims, but survivors.”

Demonstrators from Manchester were among the first to break into Tory headquarters in London last week, as up to 50,000 marched on Embankment to protest education cuts and a rise in tuition fees.

After much agonising we now know how each Liberal Democrat MP cast their deciding vote during last Thursday’s crucial debate. As expected, every Lib Dem at the centre of government, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Business Secretary Vince Cable voted for the rise.

The coalition government proposed to help pay the cost of tuition fees for some of the country’s poorest students ahead of the tuition fee vote last week.

Up to 500 students and activists marched in Manchester against the government’s proposed rise in tuition fees last Wednesday. The march took place on the eve of the House of Commons vote, which saw an increase in fees by a majority of 21 votes.

Foreign academics may struggle to obtain a visa and a right to work within the UK. This will result in academic institutions around the country suffering from a smaller pool of quality staff.