HEPI Guest Post

It may seem difficult to believe now that, only 30 years ago, there was limited interest in the working and funding of the nation’s universities or in the opportunities they offer to their students. By the start of the twenty-first century though, that had changed and there was a role…

In the spring of 2002 I approached Sir Howard Newby, recently appointed Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), where I had been Policy Director for more than 10 years, with the proposition that HEFCE might support me in establishing a think tank devoted to higher…

Where, and to whom, we are born are among the strongest forces affecting our life expectancy, our work careers, health outcomes, and the amount of taxes we pay over a lifetime. What do we mean by ‘disadvantaged’? We refer to specific student characteristics, which make it less likely those pupils…

Nearly ten years ago I started a conversation between the University of Sheffield and Sheffield City Council after a change in the way people could register to vote. The new system – known as Individual Electoral Registration – meant universities could no longer register students ‘en bloc’ and we were…

Politicians should think big. They should think about the next frontier. They should focus government on difficult issues. Keir Starmer has committed Labour to five ambitious missions, of which the fifth is squarely focused on educational transformation. The mission is stated simply and squarely: ‘Labour will shatter the glass ceiling…

Whilst there has been much focus within the Higher Education sector on the future of the UK’s relationship with the Horizon programme, the relationship with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has been somewhat overlooked. The UK’s engagement with Horizon (primarily focussed on research) remains subject to ongoing negotiation and…

Introduction The role of Head of Academic Department/School is one of the most important senior leadership roles in any university with responsibility for managing education and student experience and research and enterprise activities. Academic leaders at this level play a pivotal role in disciplinary leadership, strategy development, business planning and…

It was with great excitement and trepidation that I opened the Student Academic Experience Survey report last week – this was the first time we have a national data set that gives us comparative analysis for care-experienced students. A seminal moment for those of us working in this space. Unless…