Wayne Powell Professor Wayne Powell, principal of Scotland’s Rural College, is among seven new appointments to the board of NatureScot, the quango formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage. Prof Powell said he was proud to take up the position given the two organisations’ shared values around the country’s natural environment. Other appointments to the board include Dr Heather Reid, a science education consultant and former weather forecaster with the Met Office and BBC Scotland; Pete Higgins, Professor of Outdoor, Environmental and Sustainability Education at the University of Edinburgh; and Dr Ian Gambles, who has been CEO of Forestry Commission since 2019.
PREMIUM
There are fears conditional offers for places at university may have come too late for some pupils sitting tests under the alternative certification process. Senior pupils have been sitting crucial tests without knowing the grades they need to get into university, it has emerged. The development threatens to plunge the education plans of some youngsters into uncertainty and is a further sign of problems within the alternative certification process set up to replace formal exams. University figures said the issue had arisen because January’s “equal consideration” deadline - the point by which the vast majority of applications are submitted - was moved back two weeks amid increased demand on teachers and advisers following pandemic-related school closures.
BBC News
By Lucy Whyte
image captionAll arrivals to Scotland will be required to isolate in a hotel for 10 days
Universities are in talks with the Scottish government about plans which could let international students bypass hotel quarantine.
Under current Covid guidelines, most people arriving in Scotland from overseas must quarantine for 10 days in an airport hotel at a cost of £1,750.
Universities argue this acts as a barrier to international students.
The BBC understands four institutions are in the late stage of talks to take part in a pilot in the summer.
International students at these universities would be able to skip hotel quarantine and instead isolate in controlled conditions in university-managed accommodation.
Sir Muir Russell KCB FRSE Sir Muir Russell KCB FRSE was Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow from 2003 to 2009. During that period he was Convener of Universities Scotland, a member of the Universities UK Main Board, a Trustee of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, and a member of the UCAS Board. Sir Muir graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1970 with a First in Natural Philosophy (Physics) and took up a career in the civil service, assigned to the Scottish Office. His civil service career included a period in Whitehall as Head of the Home Affairs Secretariat of the Cabinet Office (1990-92). He was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Office in 1998, following open competition, and was the first Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Executive following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
FORMER Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw has criticised Scotland s universities and colleges after it emerged just two have adopted an international definition of antisemitism. Mr Carlaw, who is seeking re-election in Holyrood s Eastwood constituency, where there is a large Jewish community, said it was incredibly disappointing . He said adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition would send a clear message . Mr Carlaw spoke out after receiving a written answer on the issue from SNP further and higher education minister Richard Lochhead. He had asked Mr Lochhead how many universities and colleges have formally adopted the IHRA definition. This defines antisemitism as a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews and gives examples.