There are now a record 11 universities represented in the published top 20.

The stats are taken directly from our much larger UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex and are up-to-date at 9pm on 2 February 2012:

We introduced the #socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two, week three, week four, week five, week six, week seven, week eight, week nine, week ten and week eleven.

David Willetts, the Universities minister, stated yesterday that the introduction of higher fees has discouraged significant numbers of students from applying.

The provisional figures published by UCAS in November showed that the number of students who applied for places at UK universities was 158,387, down 23,427 compared to the same point a year earlier.

Overall, applications are expected to be down by between 7-8%, when overseas students are included.

2011 saw the final year for which tuition fees were £3000. This year tuition fees  have moved up the scale to around the £9000 mark.

Most universities and colleges are expected to try to charge up to or close to the new limit next year. But some experts predict fees will fall for 2013 as demand drops off, particularly for less prestigious courses.

Sarah Spencer, academic director of the distance learning centre Oxford College, commented:

“Even taking into account last year’s surge in demand for university places, this is a sudden, and severe, drop in applications. It’s not a pretty picture. With many universities now charging £9000 a year for tuition, the cost is clearly scaring off many would-be students.

“It’s years since getting a degree was any sort of guarantee of getting a good job. Now university fees are so high that a three-year degree course is increasingly looking like an expensive gamble. Among our students, we have seen a steep increase in interest in vocational courses like BTEC Higher National Diplomas. Many calculate that these sort of applied courses will give them faster and more cost-effective access to the relevant skills that will improve their job prospects.

“As even the ivory towers of academia are buffeted by the chill economic winds, students’ fears about cost and the anaemic jobs market are combining to change the shape of higher education.”

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex and are up-to-date at 2pm on 26 January 2012:

We introduced the #socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two, week three, week four, week five, week six, week seven, week eight, week nine and week ten.

Did I mention my new bag?

The Hermes Birkin. The Chanel 2.55. The Mulberry Bayswater.

What are they I hear you say?

They are bags, beautiful, amazing, stylish, delectable, highly sought after bags.

Not just bags, ‘IT’ bags.

These bags claim to be classics. The sort that will never be unfashionable.

The sort that the wealthy buy in batches yet normal girls like me can only dream of owning.

And that I do. Every day I envision how my outfit would look if I could add the Mulberry Alexa in Oak Ostrich (my personal favourite bag of all time) to it.

But seeing as it costs almost as much as a year’s rent, I somehow don’t think my student budget will stretch that far.

On my first day of university I was introduced to my flat mate and quite frankly as soon as I met her I was over ridden with jealously. Hanging off her arm she had my dream bag, there in all its wonderfulness. I was in awe.

I later discovered she had even more amazing bags hidden away in her room, and I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when she told me, ‘you can borrow any of them any time you want’.  So of course I snapped up the offer, I chose to borrow her pale brown patent Mulberry Bayswater for a friend’s birthday meal and I can honestly say my borrowed bag got more attention than the birthday girl herself.

So why are bags such as these so appealing? I mean they are probably retailed at 10 times what they actually cost to make and when it comes down to it there just a leather handbag with a designer name or logo emblazoned on the front. They are usually quite plain and come in fairly standard colours, with hardly an evidence that it had been bought from one of the world’s best fashion houses.

Many people could look at a Hermes Birkin and not give it a second thought, but girls like me could spot one a mile away.

The scenes of Gossip Girl are full of these bags, Serena Van Der Woodsen appears to own every designer bag ever made and whatever she doesn’t own her best friend Blair Waldorf is likely to have in at least five different colours. Magazine pages are shrouded with the season’s top 10 pieces of arm candy. Victoria Beckham is rumoured to have over 100 Birkin bags all in different colours, the Kardashian Sisters between them must have about 500 designer holdalls, whilst Beyonce probably has enough to give the whole population of NYC a bag each.

Ok, so it all does sound a little superficial and shallow does it not? But we still all want one right? (at least us girls do ).  If Kim Kardashian can have a 10 Birkins why can’t we?

Well, I can only guess but I doubt Kimmy Khad to pay for any of her Birkin bags at all. This is because of the simply genius actions of the PR team behind Hermes. Their business strategy probably goes a little like this:

Step 1: Send a celebrity a few new bags.

Step 2: The celebrity uses the bags and paparazzi gain pictures of them with the bag.

Step 3: Bag instantly comes more desirable to the public.

Step 4: sales of the bag increase

Simple isn’t it? And probably a lot cheaper than conjuring up an extravagant marketing campaign. It gets the bags seen by many different audiences and the picture of a celebrity with their bag has the potential to be all over magazines and newspapers supplying a business with perfect coverage of their product.

I just can’t see why Mulberry aren’t sending their newest recruit the Mulberry Carter … I’m a student, please mulberry have some sympathy!

(We introduced the #socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two, week three, week four, week five, week six, week seven, week eight and week nine.)

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex and are up-to-date at 2pm on 19 January 2012:

This full day event will see a variety of panel sessions and speakers discuss the many different aspects of public relations from working within an agency or an in-house team; the difference between sectors such as consumer, sport, local government, and issues such as sustainability.

A panel of the brightest young PR professionals will discuss what entry level PR is really like, followed by two master classes on breaking into the industry and the ever popular topic of digital PR.

The day will then conclude with a tailored session on CV and interview advice from experts in graduate recruitment.

The full day costs £25 for students on courses at PRCA partner universities (listed here) and for PRCA student members, £30 for all other students and graduates.

Further event details and a link to a booking form are available here.

(We introduced the socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two, week three, week four, week five, week six, week seven and week eight.)

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex and are up-to-date at 9pm on 12 January 2012:

Adam Burns (right) with his Two Birds One Stone co-founders at Queen Square

A Leeds-based creative agency which was co-founded by a Leeds Metropolitan University student and two recent University of Leeds graduates has been given funding for office space by the Enterprise Office at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Two Birds One Stone combines the PR expertise of the Bell Pottinger Academy (the student arm of Bell Pottinger) and the design and marketing talent of Magpie Communications, who both have experience working with youth brands such as Oxford Stationery, Leeds Corn Exchange and a number of universities and colleges across the UK.

The young team, which recently announced its third client win in the shape of bagel and coffee chain Bagel Nash, will move in to the new home at the Leeds Met Enterprise Department on Queen Square this week.

Adam Burns, Co-founder of Two Birds One Stone, said: “It’s fantastic the university has recognised what we are trying to create.  Having an office on the university campus is hugely important to us; it gives us access to the insight of thousands of students and for the right brands that is very attractive.”

“As an employer of students and graduates I am well aware of how competitive it is in the job market, so we hope through Two Birds One Stone we can offer students paid opportunities whilst they study to develop skills, build a portfolio and make themselves more employable.”

Andrew Slade, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and Enterprise at Leeds Met, said:

“Students are now being asked to pay considerably more for their education, so ventures like this go a long way to enhancing the student experience at Leeds Met and considerably increase the chances of employment after graduation.”

Audio Notetaker for Mac users is a note-taking tool that makes audio, rather than text, the basis of the user’s notes.  Audio Notetaker’s approach to note taking makes creating comprehensive notes from interviews, meetings, presentations and lectures a simple and time-efficient process, requiring very little user input.

The Audio Notetaker technology allows the user to display phrases from recorded speech as bars, allowing them to interact with the recording as if it were text. The ability to quickly annotate audio recordings with colour or words makes the need to transcribe entire recordings a thing of the past.

Roger Tucker, Managing Director of Sonocent, said: “With Apple’s emphasis on simplicity and ease of use, the Mac has always seemed a very appropriate platform for Audio Notetaker.

“We didn’t want to simply port the Windows version, but rather transfer the Audio Notetaker concept into the Mac way of doing things. It’s taken a long time to develop, but we think it will revolutionise the note taking technology industry and save users hours and hours of time.”

Audio Notetaker’s visualisation of audio makes it very easy to quickly work through a recording. Important phrases can be marked with colour, and bars can be formatted into sections and labeled with text and images allowing the user to easily reference key parts of the audio.

Claire Smith, a staff writer for a national sports magazine and a regular user of Audio Notetaker, said: “The solution literally revolutionised the way I work. The colour coding was a dream, it makes it so much easier to revisit the material. Not every interview gets run immediately so Audio Notetaker lets me go back to old stories for reference.”

Audio Notetaker works with both recordings imported from a digital recorder or computer, or by recording live straight into the software. The latter gives the advantage of being able to mark phrases as they are being said, without breaking up the flow of the interview, an extremely time saving measure.

As well as being used to record interviews and meetings the Audio Notetaker is a vital piece of technology for those who find note taking difficult. The new technology will not only be convenient but indispensible for international students or those with dyslexia, who struggle with note taking during lectures.

Andrew Campbell, a psychology student at the Open University stresses the importance of this technology:

“I used to come in the bottom of the class, but since using Audio Notetaker I have come in the top 3%. It is the most important piece of assistive technology software I have.”

The tool also has the ability to import Powerpoint slides or PDF files so that students can link their lecture slides, written notes and audio all together. Deleting bars will delete the corresponding audio, making it possible to condense long lectures down to the essentials.

Ghislain Mumbari, a student from Cameroon now studying in the UK, said “Audio Notetaker is truly amazing; it’s like you’re in class over and over again, but this time just getting the main points. I think my grades would have been vastly improved if I’d had the software earlier”

Audio Notetaker will be showcased at the British Educational Training and Technology Show (11-14 January 2012 at Olympia, London).

I am, of course, referring to The X Factor.

I suppose now would be a good time to confess, I have never watched X Factor before, and as you can probably guess, I was less than impressed by it, and probably won’t be watching it again!

X Factor refusenik Sophie Sadler

However, my personal dislike of the show aside, there is no denying that X Factor has a massive following here in the UK, and many former contestants have indeed gone on to bigger and better things – Leona Lewis, JLS and One Direction to name a few.  So why is the show so popular?

The last series (series eight no less!) still managed to draw in an average of around 12 million viewers, and yet to me, the format is dated, the sob stories annoying and the ending predictable. Put simply: I cannot see the X Factor of The X Factor!

Perhaps it’s the controversy surrounding the shows?

Even an X Factor novice like me is often made aware of the ins and outs of the show thanks to huge media coverage from every angle possible, not to mention that X Factor seems to be the only conversation worth having to most people my age for a good three months of the year.

This series saw the scandal surrounding eighteen year old contestant Frankie Cocozza’s departure from the show, following rumours of drug abuse and a vague official statement from The X Factor which simply stated that naughty Frankie had “broken the golden rule”.

And then there was HMV’s “Winner’s Single” blunder, when only one contestant’s song was available for pre-download on the store’s website, weeks before the official winner was due to be announced. This led to dozens of rumours that the show’s outcome was fixed, and resulted in said contestant’s departure from the show the following week – coincidence? Hmm, maybe not.

So what does the future hold for X Factor? Despite staggeringly high viewer figures, the show’s audience had definitely dwindled from last series, dropping nearly a million viewers.

Even the god of high trousers, Simon Cowell himself, was not a judge on the show this year, prompting whispers that perhaps the show is on its final legs. The format is starting to wear a little thin with the masses, and rumours of fixed outcomes and fiddled voting figures have not done the show any favours this year.

And yet… it’s still the topic of the moment whenever it’s on, and those who don’t keep up with it – i.e. me – often find themselves social outcasts during its run. Not to mention the fact that gossip magazines and celebrity culture are still enjoying a period of rule in the UK right now, and shows like X Factor not only provide plenty of gossip, but also feature celebrity judges and guest performances.

For example, Gary Barlow (Take That), Kelly Rowland (Destiny’s Child) and Tulisa Contoslavlos (N-Dubz) were all judges in Series 8, and their rivalry, dramas and outfits provided enough gossip to keep the show in the weekly glossies for the entirety of the show’s run.

Well, it appears The X Factor does have some sort of X Factor, at least for the time being anyway. And for those who can’t stand the thought of another series of whiny, badly dressed contestants with a predictable, anti-climatic finale?

Well, at least we can look forward to another couple of months of empty nightclubs on a Saturday night.

(We introduced the socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two, week three, week four, week five, week six and week seven.)

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex and are up-to-date at 9pm on 5 January 2012:

We’re taking a three week break, returning with our first table of 2012 on 6 January. That means that you can take some time off with friends and family without worrying obsessively about your tweets or blog posts.

(We introduced the socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two, week three, week four, week five and week six.)

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex.

PR students: tell us who you are and we’ll add you to the lists. Please note: this list is exclusive to PR students currently on full-time undergraduate or postgraduate courses in the UK.

Stats are up-to-date at 9am on 16 December 2011:

Elli Share: dreaming of a fashion PR placement

Whenever I tell people I want to have a career in fashion I’m always met with something that goes along the lines of ‘oh, that’s nice’. But I can tell that behind the friendly-yet-slightly-condescending reply, they think I’m just another 18 year old girl living their life through the contents of Heat Magazine.

OK, so I’ll be the first to admit that my knees go weak at the thought of a pair of designer shoes but that isn’t the only thing that draws me to the fashion PR industry.

The fashion world is an ever-changing environment and the thought of being in a job where one day is never the same as the next entices me. Being able to combine a personal hobby and interest of mine with a career is something I have always aspired to do, so with this in mind, I am currently in my first year of studying Public Relations at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Alongside my lectures and seminars I have been avidly trying to learn as much about the industry as possible. I have read numerous articles from people having had placements at fashion PR agencies, or positions in-house, and these have been immensely helpful in giving me an idea of what the actual workplace is like.

Foot in shoe, then in door

But how else can I learn more about fashion PR until I get that all-important work placement?

A while ago I stumbled across a blog named PR Couture whose tagline, ‘Fashion PR’s Haute Spot’ couldn’t be more spot on.

In spite of it being an American-based blog, it has proved invaluable in supplying me, and many other readers, with a wealth of engaging articles, interviews and tips that have enabled me to get a clear idea of what the industry is like and the various tasks that fashion PR’s have to carry out.

As well as this, they also have a list of fashion PR agencies situated across America, which may prove useful to me as I am very interested in spending my placement year across the pond. I now find myself checking this website on a regular basis to get the latest inside scoop and to see if there is anything else that will quench my knowledge thirst.

As well as PR Couture, I also regularly visit other fashion blogs to ensure I never miss a beat.

Only 5 years ago, blogging was barely heard of, but it has now become a phenomenon that has taken the internet by storm with bloggers covering everything from celebrity gossip to political issues.

Because of the overflowing number of blogs out there, it can be tricky to find one that you can relate to and most importantly, want to actually read, but one of my personal favourites, that I find myself repeatedly going back to, is Fashion Toast.

The author of this blog, Rumi Neely, has become a celebrity in her own right through her innovative posts and exquisite photographs. For this reason, the blog has won numerous awards and has established itself as the prime fashion blog out there.

Other than reading and catching up with various fashion and PR based blogs, I have found Twitter to be fundamental in getting access to and to gain a greater understanding of people working in fashion PR.

The River Island PR team have their own Twitter account which they update regularly with all the PR news relating to the company and through this they have also provided budding fashion PR practitioners, such as myself, with a direct link to a major brand’s press office.

River Island are not the only fashion brand to have their own PR Twitter account. The PR girls of luxury designers, DKNY and Oscar De La Renta also have their own individual accounts which they constantly update with their whereabouts or the tasks that they are carrying out at that particular time. As well as reading these tweets to simply be nosey, they also allow me to see what daily life is like for a fashion PR and all the hard work that gets put into maintaining a brand’s image.

The internet is not the only way in which I’ve attempted to learn more about fashion PR. It may seem superficial to some, but by reading highly established fashion magazines such as Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar you can often see the finished product of all the work that PR practitioners have put in. The huge quadruple page spreads by Gucci or Dior are there down to the works of the PR team and the thought of seeing something that I have worked on actually being published in print is something that I find very exciting.

I am not naïve enough to think that the lifestyle of a fashion PR is all champagne-sipping and red-carpet-event-attending. I know that the days are long and tiring, and it can be stressful keeping up with all the incoming and outgoing stock.

However, there are negative points to every profession and I would like to think that these are all outweighed by the excitement of waking up, not knowing what that day will bring, or the immense satisfaction of seeing a celebrity wearing something that you had sent them.

I will continue to strive to learn more about the fashion PR industry but ultimately I know that the main way of getting my foot in the door is to gain work experience in the field. Therefore, I am currently in the process of applying for a summer 2012 work placement either in-house or for agency and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The fashion industry is a very competitive one and so the best organisations need creative and talented PR practitioners working for them.

Why can’t that person be me?

(We introduced the socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two, week three, week four and week five.)

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex.

PR students: tell us who you are and we’ll add you to the lists. Please note: this list is exclusive to PR students currently on full-time undergraduate or postgraduate courses in the UK.

Stats are up-to-date at 8pm on 8 December 2011:

The ten entries judged the best will enjoy a sponsored supper, worth £65, after the Maggie Nally Lecture on January 19 2012. Explain in 50 words why it should be you.

The guest speaker will be Richard Gizbert, presenter of the weekly media programme, Listening Post, at Al Jazeera. He has been with Al Jazeera since 2006 and will be speaking about Western perceptions of Al Jazeera and media coverage of the Arab Spring.

The Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture was inaugurated in 2003 and the 2012 Lecture will be particularly special as it will be the 10th anniversary.

Entries will be judged against the following criteria:

• You must be enrolled on a CIPR-approved course and provide relevant details.
• You should apply by e-mail before 23 December stating, in 50 words, why they should be considered for a sponsored place.
• The case will be judged on the cogency of the argument and clarity of expression
• The style of the argument should be that of a ‘Sun Says’ leader column.
• The argument should be value-based – the value of the event and the value the student will bring to it. It should not be needs-based, for example the student’s inability to raise £65.

The offer is limited to the cost of the reception and buffet supper and no assistance is offered with any travel or accommodation.

Applications should be sent to Eva Maclaine mail@maclainecom.com with the subject heading: ‘Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture 2012.’ Please include any additional contact information that may be needed over the festive season/New Year. Successful applicants will be informed by email/phone by 9 January 2012.

About Maggie Nally

Maggie Nally, Hon FCIPR, was the first woman President of the (then) Institute of Public Relations and helped turn the Institute around at a difficult time in its development. She was a highly professional PR practitioner who remained active both in PR practice and as a Fellow of the Institute until her death at the age of 80, 10 years ago.

Patrick Nally, Maggie’s son, is an impassioned advocate of the role of education and is sponsoring ten places for PR students at the reception and buffet following the lecture. These will be awarded on application only and assessed by representatives of CIPR International Group and the Nally family.

Host for both the lecture and following reception is Lord (Tom) McNally. The lecture is free, though it is essential that anyone attending brings with them a Letter of Entry for the Palace of Westminster. The cost for the reception and buffet supper following the Lecture is £65.

(We introduced the socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two, week three and week four.)

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex.

PR students: tell us who you are and we’ll add you to the lists. Please note: this list is exclusive to PR students currently on full-time undergraduate or postgraduate courses in the UK.

Stats are up-to-date at 9pm on 1 December 2011:

(We introduced the socialstudent list here, and updated and extended it in week two and week three.)

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex. (PR students: tell us who you are and we’ll add you to the lists. Please note: this list is exclusive to PR students currently on full-time undergraduate or postgraduate courses in the UK. A simple definition of a PR student is someone who has PR in their degree award eg BA Advertising and Public Relations is OK for our purposes, but not BA Media Studies. We might make an exception to this for someone who has done a year’s placement in public relations during their course, or for someone studying a public relations topic for their dissertation.)

Stats are up-to-date at 10pm on 24 November 2011:

Two weeks ago, we introduced our #socialstudent ranking. This week, Hanif Leylabi has increased his lead and Sarah Moffat is the highest new entrant into the top 10.

The stats are taken directly from our UK PR student lists on Klout and PeerIndex. (PR students: tell us who you are and we’ll add you to the lists.)

Stats are up-to-date at 7am on 18 November 2011:

Subject to CIPR Council approval, graduates of CIPR-recognised courses with one-year work placements will qualify for Member status  (MCIPR). Graduates of three-year courses will qualify for Member status (MCIPR) after graduation and one year as a PR professional.

Changes to wider membership regulations, announced today were passed by the CIPR Council in October, along with proposals to enhance the Institute’s commitment to professional development.

CIPR intends to further recognise the commitment that PR students make to the profession. Proposals to enhance the route for graduates from CIPR-recognised university courses into membership are now being developed and will be discussed by the CIPR Council early in 2012.

Members are entitled to a vote and to stand for office in CIPR elections and are eligible to work towards becoming Accredited Practitioners and Chartered Practitioners.

CIPR members will have access to FREE online training worth £700 in 2012 and a new pricing structure, including significantly subsidised and reduced prices on training workshops.

Jane Wilson, CIPR Chief Executive, said:

“We value the commitment students of public relations make to our profession and we want to demonstrate this by enabling graduates of recognised courses to play as full a part as possible in the life of their Institute. Existing student members will also have access to free online training, which we hope will be a significant help in their studies next year.”

Rebecca Wharmby: lost without her laptop

“If there is one thing that has been drummed into me my entire educational life, it is the three words ‘back it up’. From primary school to university, teachers and lecturers have always made it a point to express how important it is that you back up your work.

“Unfortunately until the almighty disaster of your laptop being wiped or USB stick is lost, you stupidly never seem to listen. In my case it took my student house being burgled and my laptop being stolen, to realise how vital it is that you back up your work.

“Last Monday evening, my housemates and I were off out for a few drinks only for our night to turn sour when we received a phone call from one of the girls returning home from work to say our house had been burgled. Immediately the fear that my laptop may have been stolen, along with all of my PR university work flashed through my head. After spending the day perfecting my CV and updating my portfolio – what would I do if it was all gone?

“When I eventually arrived home my fears were made reality, my laptop was gone. After some serious panicking and a near mental break down I realised that despite stealing my handbag, the thieves had emptied it of any unwanted items, and fortunately my USB stick had been left behind!

“The university PR admin team were also of great help and managed to retrieve my year 1 portfolio which completely saved my life.

“This experience has definitely taught me a lesson and I cannot stress the importance of backing up your work. If something can go wrong, the likelihood is that it will go wrong, so always be prepared. It’s not enough to just back up using a USB; make sure you email yourself your work and use SkyDrive or other online file storage.

“Unfortunately I’ve learned the hard way, but don’t let this happen to you…Back it up!”