Arts Students: Are We Teaching Ourselves?

This week students make their way back to University and it'll mark the start of a hefty exam schedule. Well, for some at least.

Students studying a Bachelor's degree in science are likely to have between six and ten exams this month, whereas arts students may only have one or two, if any. Such a minimal exam timetable seems reflective of what is an equally minimalistic course.

Those studying arts and humanties subjects such as English, History of Art and Classics spend a considerably less amount of time in their University. With some courses only consisting of five contact hours a week (that's about three lectures and two tutorials) these students are very much left to their own devices.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, told the Daily Mail: "Some students are getting a very raw deal. The temptation of these universities is to free-up staff to concentrate on their own research, which tends to be more lucrative than teaching."

Money Matters

Oxbridge students are some of the only students in the country benefitting from one to one teaching, yet they pay the same tuition fees as other univsersity students in England - £9,000 a year.

Recently, a vice chancellor at the University of Northumbria told the Times Higher Education magazine that universities may start charging British students the same as International students, which could in turn bring the fees up to a staggering £20,000 a year.

Meanwhile, Daily Mail reported that History students at the University of York spend only 8% of their course in lectures and tutorials.

So, instead of spending hours sparking up debates with professors and learning from peers, does this mean students are teaching themselves?