Nick Hillman, Author at HEPI

HEPI calls for an urgent reinvigoration of part-time learning before Brexit, more support for students’ living costs and a co-ordinated strategy for fighting ignorance about university life among those applying for higher education
30 April 2018
In line with this week’s Call for Evidence deadline, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) is today publishing its response to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, entitled Post-18 Review: 10 Points-of-Note on fixing the broken parts of our education and training system. Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI and…
Post-18 Review: 10 Points-of-Note on fixing the broken parts of our education and training system based on recent HEPI output
30 April 2018 by Nick Hillman
HEPI’s response to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding covers the following 10 areas: Part-time learners Differential fees Maintenance grants Mixed funding model Uses of tuition fees Misunderstanding among applicants Outreach versus spending on bursaries Accounting treatment of student loans Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications Student number controls…
Are universities in loco parentis? The good old days or the bad old days?
25 April 2018 by Nick Hillman
In a recent speech to the Office for Students conference, Sam Gyimah the Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation and the self-styled Minister for Students, said: When these students arrive, for some this will be the first time they are away from home, the ‘uni experience’ can be disorientating…
When should academics speak out, and when should we listen? Thoughts prompted by Michael Ignatieff
12 April 2018 by Nick Hillman
Yesterday, Michael Ignatieff, President of the Central European University in Budapest gave a fantastic address and took part in a lively Q&A at the Centre for Global Higher Education conference at UCL’s Institute of Education. Most of what he said, some of which we have flagged on our Twitter account…
Benchmarking widening participation: how should we measure and report progress?
5 April 2018 by Professor Iain Martin
In this new Policy Note, Professor Iain Martin, Vice Chancellor at Anglia Ruskin University, looks at each university’s success in widening participation and ensuring access to people from all backgrounds. Professor Martin proposes a new measure of equity in participation, which demonstrates graphically the most equal – and most unequal…
Let’s hear it for the VC! Why we must start listening to vice-chancellors on the big policy questions
5 April 2018 by Nick Hillman
We are today publishing an important new analysis of widening participation data by the Vice-Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University. The paper, and accompanying press notice, speak for themselves. But, for people unfamiliar with higher education statistics, there are two important things to understand. First, the analysis is based on POLAR…
Upending the rankings: Benchmarking widening participation in universities
5 April 2018
HEPI is today publishing a new Policy Note, Benchmarking widening participation: how should we measure and report progress?, written by Professor Iain Martin, Vice-Chancellor at Anglia Ruskin University, which looks at each university’s success in widening participation and ensuring access to people from all backgrounds. The paper puts forward a…
As the NUS conference gets ready to kick off, where next for the student voice?
26 March 2018 by Nick Hillman
This blog post also appears at https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/voice-students-unions-too-powerful. I am cowering as I write, for my views on how best to listen to students may not be popular. Let me start with the less contentious parts. Of course students should help set the priorities of their universities. For instance, the complaints that…
Where abolishing tuition fees has meant underfunded universities, fewer places for poorer families and less autonomy
16 March 2018
All four parts of the UK continue to have a lively debate about the right way to fund the education of undergraduates. In England, for example, the promises about free tuition made by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell at the 2017 General Election helped ensure the Conservatives stuck to their…
In one fell swoop, the new Office for Students is about to ensure there are more unregulated than regulated higher education institutions in England
27 February 2018
Comment from the HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, on the publication of the Regulatory Framework for Higher Education ‘The new Office for Students will publish their Regulatory Framework for Higher Education tomorrow. We will finally discover exactly how English higher education is to be regulated in future. In one of the…