To earn the “golden ticket” to a life of free education, students will need to show their capability of thriving in various challenges that become increasingly difficult the more students’ progress through the competition. Students are expected to demonstrate qualities such as passion, commitment and intelligence.

The competition is open to all domestic and European undergraduates who have been accepted on a firm basis to study at Cardiff.

The first of the series of challenges will be online with the last stages bringing together a group of finalists to Cardiff University for a live challenge. Students who reach the finals will all win a scholarship to put towards their undergraduate tuition fees.

Director of strategic development, Louise Casella, said that the competition offers “fantastic opportunity to an exceptional student who can demonstrate the qualities which we seek in our applicants and which we nurture in our students”.

The scheme – which has been criticised by some academics branding it a “gimmick” – comes at a time when students are struggling to come to terms with the new tuition fee structure in the UK. Dr Philip Dixon, director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers expressed his concerns for the state of the higher education system that see’s “gimmicks like this [having] to be offered by our universities”.

Students can now register to receive the first clue of the challenge.

The overall International Student of the Year award went to James Xi Xu, an Italian and management studies undergraduate from University College London.

Mr Xu has been involved in a number of volunteer projects whilst studying in the UK, and as well as taking up a summer internship for the British Red Cross, he will help the London Olympic Organising Committee in selecting volunteers for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Mr Xu was presented his award at a glamorous ceremony for all of the finalists, hosted by TV presenter Angelica Bell, as well as Radio One DJ Nihal and British Council chief executive Martin Davidson last week. In his acceptance speech Mr Xu said that he “never expected to win” and that when he sees “the achievements of the other regional finalists it makes [him] feel humble”, adding that he is in “awe of them”.

Mr Xu’s “letter home” described his experiences of life in the UK, recounting how living in London has inspired his passion for the third sector and voluntary work, saying that when he came to the UK he found that “volunteering is such a big thing and that has really inspired [him] to help other people”.  His letter was judged to be the best and the most inspiring by the panel.

All winners received £1000, with Mr Xu receiving an additional £2000 and a trophy for being crowned International Student of the Year. A panel made up of representatives from the British Council, the Times Higher Education and previous International Student Awards winner, Stephanie Tiew, judged the pieces written by the entrants.

Here are the results of the Regional winners:

Wales

Winner – Ika Johanna Illers, Bangor University
Runner Up – Charity Yan, Cardiff University
Runner Up – Kaushalya Kularatnam, Swansea University

Scotland

Winner – Nur Aizaan Anwar, University of Aberdeen
Runner Up – Hibah Aldawsan, University of Strathclyde
Runner Up – Marcus Edino, Glasgow Caledonian University

N. Ireland

Winner – Margaret Mary Nimoh, Queen’s University Belfast
Runner Up – Kacie Smith, Queen’s University Belfast
Runner Up – Arzu Mizrak, University of Ulster

East Midlands

Winner – Sabrina Bhundoo, Nottingham Trent University
Runner Up – Chi Lin Juo, University of Nottingham
Runner Up – Betty Alali Odema, Nottingham Trent University

West Midlands

Winner – Divesh Hiranandani, University of Warwick
Runner Up –  Evan Watts, University of Warwick
Runner Up – Yuhao Li, Aston University

Yorkshire & Humber

Winner – Valentine Resiato, York St. John University
Runner Up – Michelle Kopi, University of Bradford
Runner Up – Men Heng Marian Wong, University of York

North East

Winner – Xirong He, Northumbria University
Runner Up – Sebastian Alonso, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne
Runner Up – King Lin, Durham University

North West

Winner – Tian Peng, University of Manchester
Runner Up – Joseph Bamidele Akinnagbe, University of Manchester
Runner Up – Taghreed Al-Ghaith, Lancaster University Management School

London

Winner – Xi Xu, University College London
Runner Up – Arthy Ravichandran, City University London
Runner Up – Vyacheslav Polonski, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

East England

Winner – Sze Han Haidee (Heidi) Ng, The Leys School
Runner Up – Kuong Ly, University of Cambridge
Runner Up – Alin Dobrea, University of Bedfordshire

South East

Winner – Pavan Kumar Sriram, University of Southampton
Runner Up – Mireille Gomes, University of Oxford
Runner Up – Marta Klara Szczerba, University of Oxford

South West
Winner – Maria Xi Zhang, University of Bath
Runner Up – Francesca Wuytack, Bournemouth University
Runner Up – Ines Taylor, University of Bristol

To find out more about the Shine! competition and the work of the British Council, please visit: www.educationuk.org

Leighton Andrews, the Education Minister made the commitment in response to the UK governments plan to increase tuition fees in England.

The announcement came as students in Cardiff and Swansea took to the campaign against the rise in tuition fees to the streets. About 100 students marched from Cardiff University to Queen Street in the city centre. A similar number held a protest march in Bangor and A-level students at Gower College Swansea also held a protest march in the morning.

In Wales, basic tuition fees will rise to £6000 per year, with some institutions able to charge up to £9000. Therefore the repayment threshold for student loans will increase from £15000 to £21000.

To support Welsh students, the Welsh Assembly Government has announced that they will not have to find £6000 or £9000 for their studies. Whether the students choose to study in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland the increase in tuition fees will be paid by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Welsh students who are going to university in 2012-13 will be paying the same as students who are currently studying at university.

Leighton Andrews has made the commitment to Welsh students saying “higher education should be on the basis of the individual’s potential to benefit, and not on the basis of what they can afford to pay” adding that the arrangements he’s put in place “are both fair, equitable and sustainable”.

These new arrangements will only apply to those students starting university in 2012. The additional revenue would be made from the 24000 English students who study in Wales, as well as cuts in teaching grants for Welsh universities.

Are you a Welsh student? How do you feel about this?

The report concludes that Cardiff University as a whole is worth about £760 million to the welsh economy at a local and national level with the Business School making up about 10% of the total.

Professor George Boyne, Dean of Cardiff Business School said: “At a time when higher education institutions’ role in society is being scrutinised more intensively than ever, it’s important that we are able to demonstrate our impact on the Welsh economy.”

He added: “What this new report clearly demonstrates is that UK business schools have a major role to play in supporting the UK’s economic recovery – and in Cardiff Business School’s case we offer a £76 million annual boost to the Welsh economy.”

The report also praises the Business School’s contribution to policy on a local and national level including projects to assist the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the United Nations and the Treasury. It has also worked in a consultancy and partnership role with supermarket chain Tesco, the Office of National Statistics and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The University has also just recorded its best-ever year for winning new research grants with just under £150 million, a 73% increase on 2008-2009, despite many funding bodies being forced to tighten their belts due to a series of government cuts across the board in the UK.

Students have been involved in marches, walkouts and protest events taking place up and down the country. There have also been staged occupations of universities including Royal Holloway, Plymouth, Birmingham, London South Bank, UCL, Essex and UWE Bristol.

Students are once again protesting against the plans put in motion by the coalition government to increase tuition fees. The fees are believed to increase to up to £9,000 a year as well as public funding being withdrawn from university teaching budgets. Lewis Coyne, one of the organisers of a protest march in Liverpool, said: “It is important to get the message across that we aren’t happy about what they are doing to the education budget and the rise in fees.”

The protests taking place today are not organised by the National Union of Students and there have been uncertainties about the pattern of protests. After the dramatic climax of the protests that took place two weeks ago where 68 arrests were made as students stormed the Conservative Party building, police are taking no chances.

The majority of the marches and protests taking place today have remained violence-free with one student from Durham University saying “It was really peaceful”. 28 year old James Russell, who is originally from Massachusetts, USA also commented on how he was “very impressed by the sixth-formers – they were really mature and very concerned about their future”. Protests at the University of Leeds and Cardiff University are also said to be in good spirits with no trouble so far.

Despite the majority of marches being kept peaceful, there have been patches of violence breaking out. The Guardian has reported that an abandoned police van in Central London has been subject to vandalism by the student body protesting in the area.

What are your opinions on the student protests? Do you think it’ll make a difference to the governments’ decision? Or are the students wasting theirs (and police officers) time?

Kate Samways, a fourth-year undergraduate at the School of European Studies was selected by the European Commission as the UK’s representative for ‘the two-millionth student’ in recognition of the Erasmus programme achieving two million participating students.

Run by the British Council, the Erasmus programme allows students a study period and/or a work placement in one of 30 European countries as part of their degree.

In order to mark the two million milestone, each of the countries participating in the programme selected one student to become their two-millionth representative and take part in the upcoming conference, “Erasmus – the way forward”, which will take place in Lund, Sweden, from 5 to 6 October 2009.

Commenting on Kate’s selection, Rose Matthews, Study Abroad Coordinator at the University’s International Relations Division said: “We were delighted to hear that Kate Samways has been chosen to represent the UK for the two millionth Erasmus student. Kate represents all that is positive about the Erasmus programme, having undertaken a study period and a work placement as part of her degree.

“Cardiff University has a long tradition of sending students abroad through the Erasmus programme and we believe that attendance on an Erasmus placement benefits both the student and the institution. The transferable skills that students develop through studying abroad greatly enhance their CV, helping them become more attractive to employers – particularly important in today’s increasingly competitive graduate employment market.  We congratulate Kate on this wonderful achievement.”

Simon Williams, Head of EU Programmes at the British Council, said: “It is clear through Kate’s experience that Erasmus students really do gain so much more than academic recognition. By integrating themselves into their new surroundings and getting involved, they become a real asset to their host community, broadening their own life experience as well as those of the people whose lives they touch along the way. Kate’s story is representative of the growing number of UK students who take part in this excellent programme. Not only does it offer academic, professional and personal development, but it helps young people to better understand and work with people from other cultures and all walks of life. It is great to see this being understood by an increasing number of students in the UK and across Europe.”

Several universities in Wales have launched new scholarships for 2009-2010 or increased existing provision meaning that over £17,000,000 worth of scholarships are available in Wales for 2009-2010. Wales International Consortium is also currently in talks with several potential partners to increase the scholarship provision even further anticipating  that this amount is set to increase again by 2010 – 2011.

Aberystwyth University has recently launched a range of International Excellence Scholarships in addition to a range of postgraduate awards from the School of Management and Business, Computer Science, International Politics and the Institute of Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

Bangor University announced a five million pound investment in up to 125 new research studentships and bursaries launching a five year programme of postgraduate expansion at Bangor University. The expansion, announced for the academic year 2009-10, forms part of the University’s 125th anniversary celebrations. Bangor University also has a range of international scholarships available for all subjects. Bangor Business School also offers a range of Gold and Silver Awards to all international students.

Cardiff University offers scholarships for Business, Journalism, Public Relations, Psychology, Pharmacy, Law and Engineering It has also recently announced the launch of two schemes available to students from the US. In conjunction with the Fulbright Commission, it has established two prestigious awards schemes for postdoctoral research to study at Cardiff University. It has also welcomed two Marshall Scholars as part of the new Partnership Scholarships with the Marshall Foundation.

Glyndwr University offers a unique package deal to all its international students giving students free accommodation for the first year of their degree.

University of Glamorgan offers students from Bangladesh, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, Zambia, Zimbabwe awards as part of its Undergraduate International Development Scholarships. This is in addition to offering every international student with a confirmed place the opportunity to receive a scholarship. This means that the University of Glamorgan offers the largest range of scholarships in Wales.

Swansea University offers international office scholarships for all undergraduate and postgraduate courses in addition to offering Swansea alumni the opportunity to receive a bursary to continue their studies at Swansea. The James Callaghan Scholarships are also available to students from Commonwealth countries.

The International Film School Wales at University of Wales Newport recently announced the launch of two new scholarships of £8,750 to US students to study MA/MFA Film and MA/MFA Animation programmes. Additionally University of Wales Newport offers international scholarships for all courses and an Academic Excellence Scholarship to postgraduate students from India.

In May this year, the Prince of Wales officially launched a groundbreaking £11.4 million Welsh scholarship programme at Clarence house, his official residence in London. The scheme aims to attract the world’s best graduates to place them within research and development-focused businesses in Wales to undertake key research projects.

Virginia West, Director of Wales International Consortium said “Universities in Wales have placed internationalisation at the heart of their strategies and recognizes that an integral component of that is attracting the best international students to study in Wales. International students are key to attracting strategic links with international universities, faculty partnerships and research collaborations.

There are currently almost 10,000 full-time international students in Wales an increase of 19% on the previous year. Wales is committed to ensuring that these figures continue to increase by ensuring that its range of scholarships, bursaries and awards are the best in the UK to ensure that the highest calibre of international student is choosing to study in Wales.”

Read original press release from Wales Intenational Consortium (WIC)