English universities are, by many measures, consistently among the very best in the world, outperforming most if not all other competitors. For example, take the pace at which the English population can acquire higher education and skills. Bachelor’s degree completions in the UK after 4 years are 72%, against an…
From the AI explosion to the rise of chatbots and metaversities, rapid digital innovation is impacting university campuses, teaching and learning to an unprecedented extent. For HE leaders, it can be hard to keep track of the latest developments while also tackling their immediate challenges. Aimed at these time-pressed HE…
The Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) provides a tuition fee loan entitlement equivalent to four years of post-18 education – £37,000 in today’s fees. From 2025, this loan will be used for full qualifications, and modules of some “job-specific” technical qualifications. From 2027, this will be extended to Level 4 to…
In a new HEPI Policy Note, REF2028: Outputs Matter, Professor Sir Nigel Thrift, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick, argues the Research Excellence Framework (REF) is becoming overloaded – thereby diluting its core purpose. Professor Thrift argues: Academics’ actual contributions to knowledge are being devalued in favour of bureaucratic…
This is one of the questions which we have considered at length in our new book. As HEPI remind us in their 20th Anniversary Collection, the nature of academic work, roles and identities has changed over time. If the sector is to continue to thrive, we need more inclusive academic…
ForThe100 is a national group campaigning for higher education students to be owed a minimum standard of legal protection enshrined in a statutory duty of care. The group wants a clear and transparent legal requirement for institutions to act reasonably and responsibly, so that students are not harmed by things…
In this blog, we highlight the important role that Alternative Providers of Higher Education (‘Alternative Providers’ or ‘APs’) can play as partners to traditional universities. Alternative Providers are described by HESA as higher education providers who do not receive recurrent funding from the Office for Students (previously HEFCE) or another…
The higher education landscape in England has been evolving rapidly thanks in part to the government’s 2017 Higher Education and Research Act (HERA). One way this has happened is through the Act paving the way for the establishment of new higher education institutions (HEIs) across England. These institutions promise to…
As part of the Bologna Process, the UK is committed to the European Standards and Guidelines, internationally agreed good practice in quality oversight. QAA’s policy paper highlights that England has diverged from the standards in four areas: The policy paper outlines how realigning with this good practice could help retain…
The Robbins Report had a great deal to say about higher education in the UK and some parts are better known than others. Top of the list was that university places ‘should be available to all who were qualified for them by ability and attainment’ which has become known as the…