The chief executive of the Student Loans Company has not paid Income Tax or National Insurance on his £182,000 pay packet.

Ed Lester received a new SLC contract in January 2011 but requested to stay on the terms of the temporary contract he had held since taking the position on an interim basis in May 2010.

This agreement saw Lester receive £900 per day for his work, paid by a private firm rather than on the standard SLC payroll. This allowed the parties to agree a deal where tax and National Insurance contributions would not be deducted from his wages.

This agreement was accepted by Universities Minister David Willetts and Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell. The information was revealed on Wednesday night, bringing a storm of criticism of the arrangements in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Labour asked an urgent question on the matter, with Shadow Business Minister Shabana Mahmood commenting that in current economic circumstances “the news that ministers approved the contract of a senior official, which allowed tax and National Insurance to be avoided, shows just how out of touch they are.”

However Danny Alexander told the Commons that he was “not made aware” of any tax benefits in Lester’s contract when he approved it. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury he is responsible for signing off civil service salaries above £142,500 but claimed that in fact the salary level had been “reduced significantly” in the negotiated contract. In response to the criticism he announced that the SLC will now change the arrangements and “deduct tax at source.”

Vince Cable, the government’s Business Secretary, stated that Lester was “an exceptionally useful individual who has helped to turn round [the SLC].” He described the agreed arrangements as “substantial value for money for the taxpayer,” although agreeing that tax issues should be investigated.

However second year Classicist Ben Hudson was less supportive of the positive effect of Lester’s management. He told Cherwell how a paperwork issue had left him with only a non-means tested loan which barely covered half his rent this year, commenting, “I’ve got off lightly, the year before hundreds didn’t get their loans for months and months, including people with no source of income.”

He added, “You expect people to be paid ridiculous sums of money, but the quality of service isn’t improving. It’s our money that’s paying his salary.”

Lizzie Fortin, a Drama student at UWE, added that she had spent “Two years in a row virtually starving because they haven’t got my application sorted.” She commented, “I think it’s absurd that he doesn’t pay tax, and also that money is going into pockets instead of into improving the efficiency of a poorly managed system which leaves hundreds of students without the loans they are entitled to for completely unacceptable periods of time.” Univ college PPE student Alex Lynchehaun added, “A civil servant who earns more than the Prime Minister shouldn’t need to be exempt from tax.”

However Mansfield student Beth Hodgett gave a more measured response, stating, “He is providing a service that is used literally by every student in the UK, if he’s doing the job well he deserves a salary that recognises that he’s running a company that lots of students depend on. I can understand the logic of paying people who are good at their jobs lots of money, if he’s the best person for the job he should be rewarded.”

However she added, “I think it’s unacceptable to have all the benefits of society without contributing towards that by paying tax on their salary. It makes me wonder who else is doing this without being caught.”

The Student Loans Company issued a statement to Cherwell, revealing that they ‘will now be taking forward the changes to Ed Lester’s contract as announced by the Universities Minister, David Willetts.’ They added, ‘SLC followed all government guidlines on the appointment and remuneration of the CEO.’

A recent study has shown that attending a university summer school can have a significant impact on university applications among poorer students.

Sutton Trust, the education charity which organises summer schools, found that out of the 1,750 students who attended a summer scheme in 2008 and 2009, 76% gained places at leading universities.

Dr Hoare, who led the research, commented, “Until now the evidence was anecdotal but the findings prove that summer schools really do work.”

The summer schools are held at top universities across the UK including Cambridge, Bristol, St Andrews and Oxford.

After having collaborated with the Sutton Trust for many years Oxford University launched its own initiative in 2010, called UNIQ. A spokesperson for the University explained, “UNIQ is a summer school which takes students from UK state schools who have strong academic backgrounds and allows them during a week in the summer to study subjects in-depth and learn what living and studying at Oxford is like.”

UNIQ has proved to be a success. 507 students took part in the first summer school and the University anticipates that by 2014 the number will have risen to 1,000 students. Of 657 participants in 2011, 185 received offers from Oxford and of the UNIQ students who applied 41% ended up with places, against an overall success rate for Oxford applicants of below 20%.

Jasmine Krishnamurthy-Spencer, a first year Classics student who attended UNIQ in 2010, is enthusiastic about her experience. She commented, “It made me realise that Oxford was a place where I would really want to go, where I could thrive. I was quite sceptical about applying but once I had attended UNIQ I was sure.”

Andrew Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor of the University, released a statement saying, “The UNIQ summer schools are a central pillar of our access strategy and we are delighted to see how effective they are. We have made it more likely that those from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds will choose Oxford. We hope our message is getting across: if you have the ability, Oxford will remove all barriers.”

Peter Blenkharn, a previous UNIQ participant now studying Engineering at Oxford, agreed. He commented, “Without the experience of the undergraduate lifestyle that UNIQ gave me, I might never have applied to Oxford and would have missed out on the wealth of opportunity.”

Spencer added to this, saying, “It gives students who never would have thought of applying the incentive to do so. UNIQ teaches them what kinds of skills are needed, what the tutors are looking for.” She added however that “More infrastructure is needed to give the students who don’t have direct access to the Oxford bubble a way in.”

The government has announced that university places will be cut by 15,000 this autumn.

In a letter to higher education spending watchdogs, Business Secretary Vince Cable and Universities minister David Willetts also announced that funding for teachers in universities will be cut by 18% this year, which totals £830 million.

Pam Tatlow, of million+, a university think tank, commented that “the reduction in the total number of student places available in 2012-13 is likely to dash the aspirations and ambitions of many well-qualified applicants.”

Figures released this week by the Universities and Colleges Administration Service (UCAS) showed that for the first year of higher tuition fees, with costs rising up to £9,000 per year, university applications from UK students are down 8.7%.

England’s universities have been particularly affected with applications down by 9.9%, whereas Scotland, which does not charge its students tuition fees, has only seen a fall of 1.5% in applications.

Universities Minister David Willets argued that “the dip is far less dramatic than many were initially predicting,” focusing on the fact that applications from those in the most disadvantaged areas of the UK only fell by 0.2%. “It is encouraging that applications from people from some of the most disadvantaged backgrounds remain strong.”

Applications to Oxford have remained fairly steady over the past three admissions rounds, however, with around 3,00 places available each year.

A University spokesperson commented, “Oxford has offered the most generous financial support package in the country for the poorest students to ensure that nobody is put off from applying to Oxford because of worries about the cost. The fact that applications for 2012 entry are barely lower than those for 2011 suggest potential applications have got the message and recognised that Oxford offers a fantastic, world class education and is incredibly affordable as well.”

The news of a drop in UK applicants comes as Unite have published a survey of 1,236 school and college leavers, finding that students are no longer looking for “laid-back” courses at university, but are instead taking a more “savvy” approach.

Jim Everett, a third year Psychology and Philosophy student at Corpus, commented, “the attitude of many students that they are at university to party is abhorrent. University is a place for education; to gain skills and knowledge which ultimately contribute to your country. Students treating the three years as a extended lash-session justifies university cuts and perpetuates the image of most students as drunk scroungers. Which, based on the majority of students, isn’t that unfair.”

In fourth week, Oxford University’s Inter Collegiate Christian Union will hold their annual mission week, entitled “This is Jesus.”

Planned events include talks by Minister Mike Cain and influential American author and cultural commentator Dr Tim Kellar.

OICCU President Robbie Strachan explained that the week aims to “give every student an opportunity to engage with the person of Jesus Christ.” He added, “We want to challenge false perceptions and encourage people to come and check him out for themselves.”

Next week’s event is set to be one of the largest ever, with a £40,000 budget raised from donations from students and alumni. The money will pay for hiring Oxford town hall for guest speakers and ordering an estimated 14,000 copies of John’s gospel to distribute among students.

Justifying the expense, OICCU argue that Oxford students have stated their desire to learn more about Jesus and Christianity. A spokesperson commented, “In an recent survey carried out by OICCU on Cornmarket and in colleges, 70% of students asked considered Jesus to be in some way relevant in Oxford.”

Exeter student Joel Richardson said, “Evangelism has to be important to any Christian; if we believe what we say we believe then it’s naturally really important to share the good news with other people.”

College Christian Unions have been given funds to help them promote the event in imaginative ways. Somerville are to hold a “Text-a-Pancake Tuesday,” where a pancake is delivered to a student along with the answer to a theological question of their choice. Mansfield students have been invited to a subsidised black tie dinner and some colleges are holding “Grill a Christian” forums, where reps are asked questions about faith.

Benjamin Krishna, President of Oxford Atheists, Secularists and Humanists, told Cherwell, “In my opinion evangelical Chris-tianity is lost on a sceptical British public. I think most people in Oxford have grown up learning about Jesus and Christianity and so know enough already to make informed choices.” His society plan to hold their own “Think Week” this term, which Krishna suggested will include “balanced debates and religious perspectives. Most will events end without the neat (Christian) conclusion that you will find in Mission Week.”

Another student argued that the mission week was a “clear waste of resources on those who know about Christianity and have rejected it,” instead suggesting that the money would be more useful to a charity.

Student Andrew Hansford countered this. “Sharing the gospel is fundamental to OICCU’s purpose. We’d love to see people begin to get to know Jesus, but we’re not here to force anyone to do anything.”

Oxford’s own start of year Sorting Ceremony will take place this week – a term later than expected. 

The event, organised by the newly formed Harry Potter Society, will see the Sorting Hat delve deep into students’ minds and place them in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. 

A formal invitation, sent to all society members, urged them to “take the Hogwarts Express to Harris Manchester College” and “get to know some fellow Harry Potter fans over a butterbeer”. 

It also specified a number of questions which students must answer in advance, and which form the basis of the hat’s decision. These include scenarios like “A Muggle confronts you and says that they are sure you are a witch or wizard”  and “A very strong man approaches you while you’re eating lunch and demands that you give him some food. He doesn’t appear to be starving or poor. There is nobody there to stop him from taking it.” In each case students must choose from a selection of four responses. 

Stevie Finegan, one of the society’s “Mugwumps” (Vice-Presidents) explained the need for such a system, revealing that the hat has lost many of its magical powers since it sorted Harry and friends. She said, “Unfortunately its magical element is proving far less cooperative than we would have hoped. As such we are having to prod it along and help it with song writing.” 

Finegan promised that the house system will feature in future society meetings, telling Cherwell, “We do have some events coming up in the future where houses will compete against one another,including everyone’s favourite, some inter-house Quidditch – so once you’re sorted into your house, I’d try and suss out who among your number is good with a broom!” 

She also stressed the importance of school unity, saying, “Once everyone is sorted on Thursday they will instantly find themselves having to partner up with a student from each of the other houses, in order to compete in our Three Broomsticks Quiz and win some fantastic prizes.” 

One student suggested a possible reason for the Sorting Hat’s deterioration in magical ability, pointing out that “the hat was blown up in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when Voldemort sacked Hogwarts.” 

Meanwhile Imogen Jones, a third-year classicist at Corpus Christi College, feared that the hat might entrench élitism at Oxford, claiming, “I’ve heard state school students are twice as likely to be sorted into Hufflepuff as their privately educated counterparts.” 

Clare Franklin, a second year mathematician and long-standing Potter aficionado, commented, ‘The sorting ceremony is a rite of passage, and will no doubt be the most important trial any of us face this term. As you would no doubt guess, I would rather suffer through one of Umbridge’s detentions than be in Hufflepuff, and being a Muggleborn, I’d be scared for my safety in Slytherin. But I could be quite at home in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.’

The event will take place at Harris Manchester College at 7.30pm on Thursday 2nd February.