This guest blog has been kindly contributed to HEPI by Richard Gascoigne, Managing Director of Solutionpath Limited (@GazzaToGo). As with all our guest blogs, this does not represent a HEPI opinion but is designed to stimulate informed debate and discussion. Demographics in higher education are important. Analysis of demographics can: identify disparity in academic…
Level 4 and 5 qualifications – including Foundation Degrees, Higher National Certificates (HNCs) and Higher National Diplomas (NHDs) – are an excellent route for those not interested (or not yet ready) to embark on a full degree, for mature learners who want to take only a limited amount of time…
The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) is today publishing a new paper, Filling in the biggest skills gap: Increasing learning at Levels 4 and 5, on reviving the layers of education that lie between school-leaving exams and full honours degrees, where employers say they face the biggest skills gaps. Only 10%…
This blog has been Kindly provided to HEPI by Mary Curnock Cook, Senior Advisor, Cairneagle Associates, as well as a HEPI Advisory Board member and a former CEO of UCAS. Background Aggregate data on A level results are released by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), the umbrella body for the…
This guest blog has been kindly provided to HEPI by Mary Curnock Cook, Senior Adviser to Cairneagle, a member of the HEPI Advisory Board and the former Chief Executive of UCAS. The UCAS data published this morning gives a useful guide to trends in undergraduate entry to higher education –…
The United States has become the country that has educated more serving world leaders than any other, just displacing the UK from the top spot. Among serving monarchs, presidents and prime ministers who undertook higher education abroad, 58 were educated in the US while 57 were educated in the UK,…
I have been asked a lot, particularly by journalists, about the vagaries of the university application system – and clearing in particular – this past week. It is a peculiar, difficult and stressful process that can last for months between submitting your UCAS form and having your place confirmed. As…
HEPI has occasionally published hard-to-find and interesting historic educational documents, such as Anthony Crosland’s 1965 Woolwich speech heralding polytechnics and Ken Baker’s Lancaster speech extolling the virtues of expanding higher education. Another important but often overlooked historical document is the expansionary education white paper of 1972. It includes a section…
Iain Mansfield, a senior civil servant working on higher education and now an interesting contributor to public debate, has written an article on Wonkhe about influencing policymakers successfully. There is a huge appetite to know more about this: my own piece on the subject has been more widely read than anything…
Today’s report from UCAS highlights the stratospheric rise of unconditional (U) offers on the university admissions scene. Since 2013, when the University of Birmingham made the first controversial move, the practice of confirming places for students before they get their exam results has grown exponentially. According to UCAS, 2018 saw…