‘If you could change one thing about higher education policy, what would be it be?’ Part Two
After a busy time at the party conferences, HEPI is rounding off the season with some more reflections from those within the sector.
At the June 2026 HEPI Annual Conference, we asked colleagues: ‘If you could change one thing about higher education policy, what would be it be?’. A selection of their responses are available below:
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Jonathan Alltimes says:
I would re-allocate the £8.8bn UKRI research funds to new large scale sector-specific research institutes. The research institutes would be autonomous and higher education providers could affiliate themselves to one research institute. The research institutes could be located close to centres of firms or sites where the costs of development are especially lower. The research institutes would provide a proper career structure for researchers. Most state-funded research training would occur in the research institutes and higher education could continue to provide research training. UKRI would be reformed. Research England would continue.
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Derek Ord says:
This question implies that there is a Higher Education Policy worthy of the name. I don’t think that there is. And the sector is woefully poor at knowing and articulating what such a Policy should be. Decades on from being ‘set free’ into a higher education marketplace, and the sector has proved it just isn’t capable of thriving. Policy is needed, and quickly.
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