Leave to Achieve?: A new framework for universities to drive local social mobility
Having a university nearby doesn’t guarantee social mobility – a new framework shows how local impact can be meaningfully measured.
HEPI Guest Post
The Role of Apprenticeships: Cultivating an Entrepreneurial Mindset in UK Higher Education
In its competitive market, the UK’s universities face growing pressure to be enterprising and produce graduates with real-world skills and innovative thinking. Employers frequently voice concerns about graduates lacking practical skills required in today’s workplace. At the same time, a new generation of students is more entrepreneurial and digitally agile…
More than two-thirds of full-time students now undertake paid work during term time, major survey reveals
A record 68% of students now work during term time, reshaping study habits amid rising cost-of-living pressures.
Student Academic Experience Survey 2025
This year’s results indicate that the student experience has evolved away from the ‘traditional’ model of many students living close to campus, spending a lot of time on campus and only undertaking paid employment during the holidays. Cost-of-living challenges permeate the current experience. Accordingly, paid work is now often expected…
Rethinking Exams in the Age of AI: Should We Abandon Them Completely?
In recent years, universities around the world have been moving away from traditional exams in an effort to improve assessment practices, address equity concerns and adapt to the evolving educational landscape. Top institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge are also shifting towards more inclusive forms of assessment to reduce awarding…
Redefining Academic Success: Why Career Progression Must Look Beyond Research
Traditional research metrics no longer fit a sector where educational leadership and teaching excellence increasingly drive academic impact.
Empowering Mature Students through Inclusive AI Literacy: Advancing Digital Equity and Social Justice in Higher Education
Without inclusive design, AI in higher education risks deepening digital divides and sidelining mature learners’ unique contributions.
If memory is the residue of thought, what are we learning from AI?
AI use in student essays challenges traditional assessment by separating the end product from the critical thinking behind it.
UK universities are trapped in a box. Here’s what that means in practice
Explaining the challenges facing UK universities today is not easy. The pace of change is rapid, the policy pressures are competing and the landscape is shaped by complex interplays between funding, regulation, mounting costs and increasing expectations. This makes the job of university governors particularly taxing. Many governors come from…
Opportunity is a shared challenge
Russell Group universities are expanding access and support for disadvantaged students—but lasting change needs stronger government partnership.