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HEPI Guest Post

  • Well, fancy that.

    3 May 2019 by John Claughton

    This is a guest blog kindly contributed by John Claughton, who was Chair of HMC Sports Committee from 2009 to 2016 and the Chief Master of King Edward’s School, Birmingham from 2006 to 2016.  Professor Clough of Huddersfield University produced research for HMC that proved that taking part in competitive…

  • Who influences UK higher education policy?

    2 May 2019 by Louis Coiffait

    This is a guest post kindly contributed by Louis Coiffait, Head of Policy at London Metropolitan University. He writes here in a personal capacity. HEPI had no role in the placement of organisations on the graphs below.  It’s a common question, but one that’s tricky to answer. Here are two…

  • Contextual admissions – a fuller story

    1 May 2019 by Dennis Sherwood

    Thank you, OfS, for publishing Contextual admissions – promoting fairness and rethinking merit. The fundamental premise is that access to higher education is being unfairly denied to disadvantaged students, as evidenced, for example, by the fact that ‘in 2018, 18-year-olds from the most advantaged areas were 2.4 times are more likely…

  • Addressing staff sexual misconduct in higher education

    30 April 2019 by Dr Anna Bull

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Dr Anna Bull, senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Portsmouth and a founding member of The 1752 Group, a UK-based research and lobby organisation working to end staff-to-student sexual misconduct in higher education. The #MeToo movement has led students who experience sexual harassment at…

  • The Future for University Strategies

    19 April 2019 by Dr Mike Baxter

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Dr Mike Baxter, Goal Atlas Ltd. In my recent analysis of the published strategies of 52 UK universities (University Strategy 2020), I discovered that almost 63% of university strategies have end dates in 2019, 2020 or 2021 and hence will need to be re-written…

  • Where Global Challenge Research and Doctoral Education Meet: Six challenges for institutions supporting research capacity building in developing countries

    16 April 2019 by Dr Rebekah Smith McGloin

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Dr Rebekah Smith McGloin, Director at the Doctoral College and Centre for Research Capability and Development, Coventry University. Global Challenge Research broadly describes research projects that align with the UN sustainable development goals. It benefits one or more developing countries and is carried out in partnership…

  • If you can’t kill it, cure it: a five-point prescription for REF201

    12 April 2019 by Bill Cooke

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Bill Cooke, Professor of Strategic Management at the York Management School, University of York.  A blog I wrote before the 2014 REF (Research Excellence Framework) had over 10000 downloads from various platforms. In policy terms it was an abject failure – It was called…

  • The placement panacea

    11 April 2019 by Mike Grey

    This is a guest blog kindly contributed by Mike Grey, Head of University Partnerships at Gradconsult. I spent a decade designing, delivering and managing placement programmes. I still believe they are the single most potent weapon in what has become an employability arms race, and when successful can have a huge…