The state of higher education at the start of the 2026/27 academic year: A personal take on what universities need to get right
As my social media feed fills up with parents posting pictures of children returning to school for the new academic year, as the autumn party conference season gets underway and as Universities UK gear up for their own Annual Conference (taking place next week in Nottingham), it seems the perfect moment to take stock on how UK higher education is faring – and what it can do to control its own future.
So today HEPI is publishing a new Policy Note I have written titled The state of higher education at the start of the 2026/27 academic year: A personal take on what universities need to get right.
As the paper says at the start:
The summer of 2026 turned out to be a politically eventful one, including for higher education institutions. It witnessed a change of UK Prime Minister and a new Secretary of State for Education in Whitehall, the marking of Plaid Cymru’s first 100 days in power in Cardiff and a substantial report from the Future Framework for Sustainability and Success of Scotland’s Universities.
Meanwhile, UCAS reported a record number of 18-year-olds had secured their place in higher education and the media continued to ask questions about the financial sustainability of higher education institutions, the way student loans work and the state of the graduate labour market. Important questions were also raised about the recruitment, oversight and treatment of staff.
This HEPI Policy Note takes stock of some of the key issues facing higher education at the start of 2026/27 and considers what more institutions can do to respond to external pressures and protect their futures. It is based on a speech delivered at the University of St Andrews.
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