ÖйúAƬ

Last week, chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne refused to answer when a seven-year-old boy asked him ¡°what¡¯s seven times eight?¡±

He was widely ridiculed, but are there any tricky questions that you dread potential students asking when they pay you a visit on open day? Well, you should get your answers ready, because prospective university students are being encouraged to ask difficult questions as part of a University and College Union campaign for greater transparency in ÖйúAƬ, launched today.

The union has produced a list of 10 questions it wants would-be undergraduates to ask. UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said that students were ¡°bombarded by information these days¡±, but that so much of it was ¡°just advertising bumf¡±.

¡°We are encouraging students to ask the questions that universities would rather they didn¡¯t,¡± she said. ¡°We need far greater transparency in the ÖйúAƬ sector and prospective students should exercise their critical capacities even before they join a university.¡±

The 10 questions universities don¡¯t want to be asked

1. How much of my teaching will be given by staff employed on zero-hours and temporary contracts?
2. What is the student:staff ratio at the university?
3. Does the university pay the living wage to all staff it employs, including staff on casual contracts?
4. If I take a job working at the university while I am a student will I be paid the living wage?
5. Are the open day guides who show me around paid the living wage?
6. What is the ratio of the vice-chancellor¡¯s salary to the pay of the lowest paid member of staff?
7. What will the university do if proposed cuts to Disabled Students¡¯ Allowance are implemented in 2015?
8. Does the university want to see tuition fees rise above their current maximum of ?9,000 a year?
9. Does the university believe that student loans should be sold to a private company?
10. What would this university do if the terms of their students¡¯ loans changed for the worse after they had started their course?

Have you ever been asked a tricky question by a prospective student? Tweet us at or leave a comment below.