Free speech and academic freedom in higher education institutions came back with a vengeance this week, as the Government announced their long-awaited proposals. It is one area where the main players have a tendency to imply their positions are more black-and-white than they really are. For example: the Government may…
This is the third in a series of three blogs that HEPI is running this week on the state of university pensions and particularly the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). The previous two blogs are available here and here. However tough the predicament faced by any pension scheme, as the title…
This is the second in a series of three blogs that HEPI is running yesterday, today and tomorrow on the state of university pensions and particularly the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). Salary costs already make up 59% of the higher education sector’s operating expenditure. If USS contributions were to rise…
This is the first in a series of three blogs that HEPI is running today, tomorrow and the next day on the state of university pensions and particularly the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). In one of their recent excellent morning emails, the HE team at Research Professional declared: ‘The hole…
Spending reviews and déjà vu After the recent rash of documents from the Department for Education, we must raise our eyes to the next spending review, when the Government decides how much is to be spent on different priorities over the next few years. I have a serious case of déjà…
Slow thinking A few years ago, there was a vogue for ‘slow thinking’, ‘slow food’ and even for a whole ‘slow movement’, all of which were aimed at reducing the pace of life down. In recent years, people watching UK higher education policy might well have felt the idea was…
Student funding remains hotly contested. In this HEPI Debate Paper, Alan Roff considers the findings of the Office for Budget Responsibility, which has come to regard the past treatment of student loans in the national accounts as a ‘fiscal illusion’. Roff argues for a different approach to student finance, which…
The announcement just before Christmas that Lord Wharton has been picked to replace Sir Michael Barber as the Chair of the Office for Students was simultaneously very surprising and totally expected. It was surprising because no one seems to have previously mentioned his name in relation to the role but…
As students prepare for the new term, the Higher Education Policy Institute is publishing a report on non-continuation (or ‘drop-out’) rates. A short guide to non-continuation in UK universities (HEPI Policy Note 28) by Nick Hillman, HEPI’s Director, looks at the scale of the problem, including showing that the UK has…
A short guide to non-continuation in UK universities (HEPI Policy Note 28) by Nick Hillman, HEPI’s Director, looks at the scale of the problem, including showing that the UK has the lowest drop-out rate of any OECD country. It also considers which students are most at risk of not completing their…