On 7 June, HEPI will host its 2017 Annual Conference at Regent’s University London. The conference will provide a timely opportunity for senior leaders and policymakers from across the sector to come together to reflect on what it takes to create a university for students. But why is that important?…
As political campaigning resumes after the horrific attack in Manchester, HEPI is focusing on what the manifestos of the three biggest UK-wide political parties have to say on higher education. The main announcements are shown in the table below. Three things stand out: A real choice is being offered. On issues…
It was a busy weekend for higher education announcements. First, the Green Party announced a plan to pay off all outstanding student debt on graduates’ behalf. The details were sketchy but there is over £75 billion worth of outstanding debt in England alone. So it is a big policy whichever way you look at…
This guest blog was kindly provided by Dr Emily McIntosh, Director of Student Life, University of Bolton. ‘Resilience’ has stealthily crept into higher education consciousness to become the latest buzzword. The Teaching Excellence Framework, student mental health and wellbeing, retention, achievement, student engagement, learning analytics and employability have preoccupied us…
The official title of the Tory manifesto is, perhaps surprisingly, not ‘Strong and Stable’ but ‘Forward, Together’. Given that the Conservatives have been in office, in coalition or on their own, for seven years already, one could be forgiven for thinking it might have been ‘More of the Same’. There…
On Thursday 18 May 2017, HEPI and Elsevier will be hosting a roundtable dinner at the Royal Society in central London on the theme of gender in the global research landscape. The guest speaker will be Professor Anthony Finkelstein, Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security to the Government. Invite-only. For…
This guest blog has been written by Jeremy Cooper, Managing Director at Hobsons. Strategic issues — from the UK’s Referendum on the European Union to the US Presidential election last year — have the potential to influence where international students choose to study. As the UK higher education sector prepares…
This guest blog has been kindly provided by Simon Goldsworthy, Professor of Public Relations and Advertising and Head of Department of Communication & Media (Communication, Public Relations, Journalism & Film Studies), Richmond University, Kensington Campus. Shortly before the referendum on the UK’s place in the EU, the Political Studies Association (PSA) polled…
Yesterday, footage emerged of John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, announcing that Labour will scrap tuition fees if the party wins the General Election on 8 June. Speaking in Mansfield two weeks ago, the Shadow Chancellor can be seen to introduce the idea of a national education service, which is ‘free…
I am speaking this morning alongside Jo Johnson, the Minister for Universities and Science, at a Portland Communications event on the future of UK higher education. Here are my remarks. Thank you for inviting me. We don’t have long so I want to get straight into the swing of it. But, first, I must…