The Guardian newspaper is on a nice little earner with its various dubious writing courses and university award schemes. And Kingston is quick enough to fork out for entry to one of these. To win you have to be in, might be Ratty’s motto; he’s certainly happy to stump up the couple of hundred quid per category. He boasts of another win, although actually Kingston was one of the runners-up (along with Teeside) in the ‘student experience’ category.
But do these half-awards mean anything? In the ridiculous competitive scramble of higher education, do we get any advantage from these tinny gongs that most prospective students are unlikely to notice? It seems unlikely. Kingston’s management would be best advised to concentrate on the welfare of the staff if it really wants to improve the student experience. Most staff are still gloomy about prospects as no doubt the next staff survey will show. Things could be worse. Kingston might have won the ‘inspiring leader’ or the ‘advancing staff equality’ categories. Then we’d all have choked on our breakfast.