Last week’s Augar report divided opinion. At HEPI, we were at the more positive end of the spectrum, not least because the report addressed, in a serious way, pretty much all the points we had said it should. We were, and remain, determined not to fall down the biggest rabbit hole…
Despite the competing political stories around, the publication of the Augar review on post-18 education is already leading to acres of coverage and commentary. At HEPI, we have published an initial response, judged the recommendations against our original submission to the review and looked specifically at the parts of the report that focus…
In his initial response to the publication of the long-awaited Augar report on post-18 education, Nick Hillman, the Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: “The report that universities and colleges have all been waiting for has finally landed. The immediate focus will be on the proposed reduction in…
When we start planning each year’s HEPI Annual Conference – which this year is taking place on 13 June at a prestigious central London venue – our first act is always to check our informal ‘HE clash calendar’. Higher education policy is such a busy field these days that it can…
HEPI Director Nick Hillman looks back on what Theresa May’s premiership has meant for higher education and universities. Back in 2015, during her final Conservative Party Conference speech as Home Secretary, Theresa May took a sharp dart from the box labelled ‘populism’ and fired it directly at universities: I don’t…
Across the higher education sector, we see increasing numbers of staff being referred to counselling and occupational health services. This report attributes the deterioration to factors such as excessive workloads, insecure employment and punitive metrics-driven performance management policies and argues that universities need to become healthier environments in order for…
A new Occasional Paper from the Higher Education Policy Institute reveals a big increase in the number of university staff accessing counselling and occupational health services. Pressure Vessels: The epidemic of poor mental health among higher education staff , HEPI Occasional Paper 20, by Dr Liz Morrish includes new data…
One issue on which most academics agree is how not to judge the value of different university courses. But, unfortunately, no one can agree on the right way to do it. This matters because the lack of consensus cedes power to people who may care less about the health of our sector.…
Each year, HEPI and Advance HE publish the Student Academic Experience Survey. It was originally designed to track alterations in the student experience as student finance changes. The Survey started in 2006, in the months before £3,000 fees came in, and has continued through the various financial changes since, including the…
The UCL Institute of Education regularly hosts fascinating ‘What if …‘ debates about topical education issues, expertly chaired by Professor Becky Francis. I have just had the pleasure of taking part in one on access to higher education alongside Anna Vignoles, Paul Jump and Claire Fox. My speech is below,…