A recent Wonkhe article by Will Yates of Public First noted, ‘It really was not that long ago that maintenance grants were the norm and student life was cheap and cheerful.’ We probably all know what he means. When I went to the University of Manchester 35 years ago, I had no…
A new report from HEPI, TechnologyOne and the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University shows how much first-year students need for a minimum socially acceptable standard of living that covers the basics and allows full participation in university life. The Minimum Income Standard for Students is based on focus groups with students in university…
The UK Government’s Restoring Control over the Immigration System white paper (May 2025) proposes a 6% levy on international students’ tuition fees to invest in ‘the higher education and skills system’. Further details are expected in the autumn Budget. HEPI has used the latest available data (for 2023/24) to calculate the…
The tone of this new book by Richard Corcoran on ‘Florida’s most left-wing public university’ is set at the very start with a tribute to the New York Times, the Washington Post and other newspapers for their ‘unshakeable commitment to ignoring any fact that does not support their predetermined narrative’. It continues into…
In a speech on Friday, the Minister for Skills, Baroness Smith, strongly chastised her alma mater, the University of Oxford, for taking a third of their entrants from the 6% of kids that go to private schools. In a section of the speech entitled ‘Challenging Oxford’, we were told the situation is…
HEPI’s Director, Nick Hillman, spent Friday at a conference organised by SKOPE (the Centre for Skills, Knowledge, and Organisational Performance), part of the University of Oxford’s Department of Education. It was overseen by James Robson, Professor of Tertiary Education Systems, and featured the Minister for Skills, Baroness (Jacqui) Smith, among…
This edited collection of pieces on entrepreneurial leadership brings together reflections from senior leaders at a diverse range of UK higher education institutions who are battling turbulent times. The essays reflect optimism in the transformative power of universities and their ability to support society and the economy. Together, the authors…
This note is by HEPI Director, Nick Hillman. I’m over the moon and completely surprised to have had my work in higher education policy since 2007 recognised through the award of an OBE. I’ve been very lucky in my career, most notably in having the chance to support a brilliant…
Nick Hillman, HEPI’s Director, tries to make sense of the Government’s new plans on R&D spending up to 2029/30. Perhaps the Speaker of the House of Commons will be unhappy the Government have pre-briefed the media on what this week’s Spending Review will mean for research spending. But what should the…
Responding to reports in the weekend’s newspapers that the negotiations between the UK and the EU could lead to big changes for universities and students, Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, said: ‘The idea that students from the EU might come to be treated, once again, as home students when it…