Regulators Committee expressed surprise at the university regulator’s assessment that our finances are “in good shape”. To the contrary, the Committee were unequivocal that “the current model for funding higher education is unsustainable”. In a recent piece on this site, Dr Mark Corver presented an alternative model for funding higher…
As reported by The Times, the boss of one of the world’s most influential investment firms has called for “consistency” in the government’s business strategy, pointing out that Britain has had six chancellors and four prime ministers since 2019. On stage with Rishi Sunak at the government’s global investment summit…
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, higher education institutions (HEI) increasingly recognise the importance of preparing students to thrive in a technology-driven world. As higher education practitioners, it is crucial to draw a comparison between our expectations of an ideal digitally capable student and the reality of students’ digital capabilities. …
Whilst the (gold) dust may have settled following the announcement of TEF 2023 ratings in late September what might last week’s November release of TEF panel summary statements, alongside provider and student submissions, tell us about the rationale behind the awards? In a previous HEPI blog, Emily reflected on the…
In 2023, QS launched the pilot edition of its Sustainability Ranking. University of California Berkeley took the top spot, in a Top 10 comprised of institutions from Canada, Australia, the UK, the US, Japan and New Zealand. After gathering sector feedback, reviewing the impact of the metrics and the robustness…
This year’s UCAS deadline is fast approaching. One area of particular interest will be student applications to healthcare and nursing, where the government is keen to see increases to meet targets set in the NHS Workforce Plan. These students will go on to support an ageing population, and will operate…
If you have only learned about the proposed changes to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) from Professor Sir Nigel Thrift’s recent HEPI Policy Note, then you are likely to be alarmed. According to Thrift, the proposal to reduce the weighting on research outputs in REF 2028 from 60% to 50%*…
In September, GuildHE launched a report which called on the sector to address the balance for small and specialist institutions receiving funding to support their knowledge exchange activities, with these activities being transformative for institutions’ approach to their communities, to student engagement, and in the impact they could make in…
As the Office for Students (OfS) finalises the new wave of Access and Participation Plans (APP) from volunteer ‘wave 1’ providers, it felt timely to reflect on the journey we’ve been through over the past 12 months. In October 2022 the OfS launched its consultation on the new approach to…
Universities are in a difficult spot. Demand for higher education is high, with more and more young people seeing the value of a university education, which is obviously great news for the sector. On the other hand, we’re hearing from university leaders that there are fewer and fewer staff around…