As universities gear up for a new round of strikes, taking place from 1 December to 3 December 2021, they may wish to reuse online teaching materials recorded during the pandemic to limit the impact on students. But a new report from the Higher Education Policy Institute reveals confusion over who…
As we enter Advent, the higher education sector is gearing up for expected new consultations from the Department for Education. Here HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, takes stock of current policy debates, the impending industrial action and the continuing impact of COVID. The calm before the storm It may seem extraordinary,…
Dear John, Congratulations on your new appointment! We don’t know each other well but I have long admired your career from afar. You clearly care passionately about learners and ensuring they meet their potential. It is a huge and brilliant job that you are taking on, in fact one of…
HEPI Director Nick Hillman delves into the biography of the most important UK civil servant of modern times, Jeremy Heywood, to search out lessons on how higher education policy is set at the centre of Whitehall. During a recent period of COVID-induced isolation, I finally got around to reading What Does…
Universities’ attitudes towards recruitment indicate confidence in the future of research but their senior leaders have concerns about the impact of increased workloads on staff, writes Tom Sastry, Head of Sustainability at Research England. Summary: A recent survey undertaken by UKRI indicates that universities are not holding back on plans…
There are various important roles in English higher education that are either vacant or close to becoming so – for example, in the last few days, we’ve heard that the Chief Executive of the Office for Students will soon stand down and the new Director for Fair Access and Participation…
Yesterday, the Learning and Work Institute celebrated its centenary at CityLit college in Holborn in the presence of their Patron, HRH the Princess Royal. Nick Hillman, HEPI Director, spoke at the event. Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, it is a huge pleasure to speak at this important event marking your 100th anniversary…
It was disappointing that higher education was almost entirely absent from the Chancellor’s Budget Statement to the House of Commons last week – I say ‘almost’ because UK universities did get one passing mention (the same as the English Civil War while cider got 10). Plus, as part of the…
Nick Hillman, the Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: The slowdown in planned public spending on research and development is disappointing. Unlike other areas of government spending, when it comes to research, public funding “crowds in” rather than “crowds out” private funding. So the road towards the long-standing…
HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, looks forward to this week’s Spending Review. If you made me bet hard cash, I would say it currently seems unlikely that anything positive to do with higher education and research will make up the main story coming out of this week’s Spending Review. On research…