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HEPI Guest Post

  • Flexible Learning Pathways: how to provide them?

    15 December 2023 by John Brennan

    Increasing flexibility is a common feature of the changes taking place in higher education, but how this is being done can differ considerably between institutions. It can provide students with more options, and with the challenges of choosing the right ones and the risks of choosing the wrong ones. And…

  • Flexible Learning Pathways – a new HE or something else?

    14 December 2023 by John Brennan

    Higher education is changing. And so is the student experience. For a long time, students had to make two key decisions when applying to enter higher education:  choosing their subject and choosing their university. But today, the diversity and flexibility of higher education brings a lot more decisions for potential…

  • Part-time work is here to stay, but how can it be better?

    13 December 2023 by Dr Adrian Wright, Dr Mark Wilding, Mary Lawler and Louise Hoole

    HEPI research suggests more universities are encouraging part-time work and that more students are undertaking paid employment to cope with the increased cost of living. Alongside this, research has documented the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on student belongingness, as decisions made from financial necessity can impact students’ connection and…

  • Australia’s Universities Accord – a model for British Labour? By Professor Andrew Norton

    13 December 2023 by Professor Andrew Norton

    A major Australian higher education policy review, known as the Australian Universities Accord, submits its final report this month. The Australian Labor Party announced the Accord idea from opposition in 2021, with the current review commencing after its 2022 election victory over the Liberal Party. As the name suggests, an Accord goal was greater…

  • Higher degrees or higher ambitions? A new approach to PhDs

    12 December 2023 by Christopher Smith

    The modern PhD in the UK is usually dated to the years immediately after the First World War.  It is a relative latecomer then, and the complex articulation of a three-cycle process (undergraduate, masters, doctorate) through the Bologna Process is even more recent, and dates to the end of the…

  • Funding the Higher Education Sector: More funding, with wiser spending

    11 December 2023 by Antony Moss

    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…

  • Rethinking the Limit on International Students: Lessons from Dutch and Danish Experiences

    8 December 2023 by Tijs Broeke

    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…

  • Your Ideal Digitally Capable Higher Education Student: Reflections from a transition to Higher Education Workshop

    7 December 2023 by Nurun Nahar

    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. …

  • ‘Distinctive’ and ‘diverse’: a response to the TEF statement release

    6 December 2023 by Emily Pollinger and Robert Eaton

    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…