Classic PS Group Writing Task

On Friday the 29th of July, you will complete a group writing task as an EAP assignment.  This is an opportunity for you to gain experience in working in a group to produce a piece of writing.  You will be able to submit your group essay as part of your EAP Self-Study Portfolio.

The essay question is:

Is the University of Essex right to set its tuition fees at £9000 per year?

Each member of your group should read one or more of the following texts.  You can decide together how you divide up the reading:

STUDENT A :

1. “From the Vice-Chancellor” and “Focus on Quality as fees set at £9,000”. Essex Quarterly. April 2011

2. “Vice Chancellor’s Update” Available online at https://www.essex.ac.uk/budget_prospects/vc_updates/240211.aspx [Retrieved 11 July 2011]

STUDENT B: 

Vasagar, J. (2011) “Fees will put teenagers off applying for university, say 42% of vice chancellors” The Observer, 12 June. Available online at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jun/12/fees-chancellors-poll-universities?INTCMP=SRCH [Retrieved 11 July 2011]

STUDENT C : 

Paton, G. and Collins, N. (2011) "Ten universities could fail after £9,000 tuition fees” The Telegraph, 7 June  Available online at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8560874/Ten-universities-could-fail-after-9000-tuition-fees.html [Retrieved 11 July 2011]

EXTRA TEXT text:  BIS (2011) “Putting students at the heart of higher education”. Available online at   http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=420160&SubjectId=2 [Retrieved 11 July 2011]

If you would like some extra listening practice, you can also watch a video of Professor Jules Pretty justifying the University's decision to set tutition fees at £9,000 here.

When you read your text(s), make clear notes that will be helpful to you when summarising content for your group.  After you have all summarised your texts for each other, you will need to plan an answer in response to the question.  You must then decide HOW you are going to write and edit your essay.  You can also decide on what you think is a suitable word limit, but you can ask your tutor for some advice on this.  

You should email your group text to your EAP tutor by 4pm on Friday the 29th of July.  Good luck, and enjoy the task!