Reports
Vocational A levels and university entry: is there parity of esteem?
Date: 18 Jan 2007Author: Phil Vickers and Bahram BekhradniaThis report considers the relationship between vocational and academic Level 3 qualifications, in particular whether vocational qualifications may be regarded as equivalent to academic qualifications as preparation for university study.A Dangerous Economy: the wider implications of the proposed reforms to the UK Research Councils' peer review system
Date: 13 Dec 2006Author: Tom SastryThis report discusses the proposals of Research Councils UK for the reform of the Research Councils’ (RCs’) peer review system for giving project grants. It treats the RCUK report in the wider context of the dual support system and argues that unless the RCs retain a distinctive role in a well-delineated dual support system (which the RCUK proposals undermine), then logic and political pressures will eventually put them at risk.The Academic Experience of Students in English Universities (2006 report)
Date: 31 Oct 2006Author: Bahram Bekhradnia, Carolyn Whitnall and Tom SastryIn March 2006, with a grant generously provided by the Higher Education Academy, the Higher Education Policy Institute commissioned Opinionpanel Research to undertake a survey of first and second year full time undergraduate students in English universities. 23,000 students were asked about aspects of their university experience, including the amount of teaching received and private study undertaken. Around 15,000 replies were received. This report outlines some of the highlights of the analysis.
The prosperity of English universities: income growth and the prospects for new investment
Date: 07 Sep 2006Author: Higher Education Policy InstituteThis report estimates the increase in the revenues and spending power of English universities in the period 2003-04 to 2010-11, and aims to establish, in the light of those estimates and the various calls on their income, the extent to which improvements may be possible in the quality of the provision that universities make.
Using metrics to allocate research funds: initial response to the Government’s consultation proposals
Date: 23 Jun 2006Author: Tom Sastry and Bahram BekhradniaIn his Budget speech in March, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced major reforms to the way research is assessed and funded. He announced that the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) would be discontinued, and in an associated document (‘Science and Innovation Investment Framework: Next Steps’) a consultation was promised on the Government’s preferred option: replacing the RAE with performance indicators based on research funding (‘metrics’). The Government has now published its consultation proposals under the title ‘Reform of Higher Education Research Assessment and Funding’. This report is HEPI's initial response to the Government's proposals.How good is the UK research base?
Date: 22 Jun 2006Author: Jonathan AdamsConventional indicators of research performance provide a simple measure of the average performance of the national research base but no explanation of the distribution of quality. This report concerns a new way of looking at research quality by profiling that distribution and thereby gaining novel insights. A report carried out by Dr Jonathan Adams of Evidence Ltd and published by HEPI.Using metrics to allocate research funds
Date: 26 May 2006Author: Tom Sastry and Bahram BekhradniaThe Government has announced its "firm intention" to discontinue the Research Assessment Exercise as the basis for allocating the research funds provided by HEFCE, and replacing it with 'metrics', based largely on the success of universities in securing external research income. This report analyses the financial and behavioural implications of this.
How exposed are English universities to reductions in demand from international students?
Date: 30 Mar 2006Author: Tom SastryAnalysis of English HEIs' dependence, or otherwise, on their income from international student fees; and the impact of a hypothetical 25% drop in international fee income.Demand for HE to 2020
Date: 21 Mar 2006Author: Bahram BekhradniaIn 2005 HEPI published a report "Demand for Higher Education to 2015-16", using the same methodology that had been used in previous years to produce projections of demand to 2010, and extending this with a tentative look to 2015. This present report refines and extends the projection further, and looks in detail at the various factors that will influence demand for higher education over the next 15 years to 2020.Development of third stream activity: lessons from international experience
Date: 23 Jan 2006Author: Sachi HatakenakaThe purpose of this analysis is to provide a framework for thinking about the purpose of third stream funding, to help generate debate and to reach a clarity of understanding, both about the short and the longer term.
The Education and Training of Medical and Health Professionals in Higher Education Institutions
Date: 03 Nov 2005Author: Tom SastryThis report uses data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) from Higher Education Institutions to investigate the education and training of medical and health professionals in the UK’s universities and colleges, and the relationship between the NHS and the higher education system. Whilst these data cannot provide a full picture they provide an important window into a subject that has not previously been widely studied. The report consists of two separate but related investigations into: the way in which universities and colleges are funded for training health professionals and the implications of the different funding regimes for the nature of provision; and the extent to which, a decade after its absorption into the HE sector, nursing has become a ‘normal’ academic subject.Non-clinical researchers and clinical academics
Date: 11 Oct 2005Author: Tom SastryA short paper prepared by HEPI in the course of its review of relations between the higher education sector and the NHS (published as "The Education and Training of Medical and Health Professionals in Higher Education Institutions" in November 2005). This paper feeds into the Department of Health consultation on "Best Research for Best Health". The report argues that it would be a mistake to prioritise clinical research capability at the expense of addressing pressing staffing issues affecting non-clinical researchers in the biomedical sciences, and suggests that it is important that the latter be addressed alongside the former.
Brain Drain: Migration of Academic Staff to and from the UK
Date: 04 Oct 2005Author: Bahram Bekhradnia and Tom SastryBrain drain or brain gain? This report examines migration of academic staff to and from the UK in the past decade, drawing on research commissioned from WSA and Evidence Ltd.
Demand for Higher Education to 2015-16
Date: 13 Jul 2005Author: Bahram BekhradniaAn update to HEPI's two previous reports projecting demand for higher education, this report extends the projections to 2015-16. It also contains an analysis of the implications of these revised figures, in particular for the Government's 50% target for higher education participation.Postgraduate research degree programmes in English universities - costs and revenues
Date: 17 Mar 2005Author: Tom SastryRecent research has demonstrated that training postgraduate researchers costs universities and colleges much more than previously thought. This report explores the implications.Mission Critical? Modernising Human Resource Management in Higher Education
Date: 09 Mar 2005Author: William ArcherDuring 2004 Human Resources and university heads were interviewed in 44 research-led and teaching-led UK universities in a wide spread of metropolitan and campus locations. Although the views reported are not necessarily representative of opinion across the sector, these interviews provide an illuminating insight to the HR issues and challenges facing universities. This report offers a perspective on the issues raised.Spent force or revolution in progress? eLearning after the eUniversity
Date: 03 Feb 2005Author: Professor John SlaterA review of developments in e-learning in the UK higher education sector.
The Student Experience Report
Date: 26 Jan 2005Author: UNITE2005 Student Experience Report, commissioned by UNITE in association with HEPI and conducted by MORI. 5th anniversary edition.Non-Completion at the University of North London and London Guildhall University: a case study
Date: 01 Jan 2005Author: Libby Aston & Bahram BekhradniaLondon Metropolitan University was formed as a result of a merger between London Guildhall University and the University of North London in 2002. The new university was concerned that students from its two constituent parts had very different rates of non-completion, and commissioned HEPI to conduct this study, which investigated the difference and recommended action for the future.
Postgraduate Education in the United Kingdom
Date: 10 Nov 2004Author: Tom SastryPostgraduate education is the fastest-growing sector in higher education. This report, sponsored by Beachcroft Wansbroughs, looks at trends across the sector and how they affect different universities. It also looks at the financial impact of postgraduate education on universities, postgraduates and on the job market, and raises some important quality issues and assesses future demand.