I have been invited by HEPI to write this blog on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary and in the wake of the report commemorating this achievement, and I am delighted to share some thoughts in this context. I suggest that there are six conditions a think-tank – which is…
Ahead of the government’s long-anticipated higher education reforms, knives are out for “low value” university courses with supposedly little economic return. Degrees are expensive and students are right to worry about careers. But viewing university through a purely economic lens underestimates its value not only to the people who go…
The apprenticeship market for universities – including degree apprenticeships – has been the focus of much attention in recent years, as ministers and institutions seek a more diversified post-18 offer. Barely a week goes by without Secretary of State Gillian Keegan or Robert Halfon, Minister for Skills, Further and Higher…
It would be easy to think that this year is a normal Confirmation and Clearing period. Exams are underway and arrangements are largely similar to what they were prior to the disruption of Covid-19. However, the majority of students are sitting formal exams for the first time, after their GCSE…
Universities are a global business. Traditionally this is where established knowledge is stored and where new knowledge claims are evaluated. It’s also where the future of knowledge is handed from old scholars like me to the next generation of knowledge creators and workers who are here to learn their crafts.…
*** Sign up for our webinar with Unite Students, taking place tomorrow (Tuesday, 11 July) from 10am to 11am, here *** It’s important to state at the outset that universities are not opposed to robust regulation. A sector with no regulatory oversight is unlikely to be a healthy one and…
*** Sign up for our webinar with Unite Students, taking place on Tuesday 11th July from 10am to 11am, here *** Almost one-in-three applicants (30%) will start university this September with a history of missing education due to their mental health, according to the Unite Students 2023 Applicant Index. Figures…
In May 2023, the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 came into being after two years of parliamentary debate, media and think tank speculation, and a large serving of consternation from within HE. However, the Act crossed the legislative finishing line largely intact, and the baton (or chalice) is…
The results of the annual Graduate Outcomes Survey are upon us again, and across the sector we scramble to analyse our performance in terms of highly skilled employment outcomes and how this might affect our internal performance measures and external league table standings. But it is worth looking beyond the…
This is the story of a once great academic publishing house whose reputation is now tarnished among academics, authors and even among the editors who are currently engaged to edit their vast and varied suite of journals. The academic publishing industry is a significant international employer, with the leading companies…