There is a common view that students are a particularly influential group of voters. There are lots of them and they tend to be concentrated in certain parliamentary constituencies – plus it is known that people with higher levels of education tend to be more likely to vote than those…
We have – finally – today achieved something I have long wanted HEPI to do: we have taken a blank sheet of paper and worked out how much money students need to live on. By ‘need to live’ we don’t mean just avoiding poverty; nor do we mean living in…
HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, takes a look at the lessons in Paul Johnson’s book ‘Follow the Money: How Much Does Britain Cost?’ This is one of the best books I’ve read. That’s really saying something, given it is a book on fiscal policy – or government tax and spend. It…
It’s a wrap! Over the past two weeks, HEPI has hosted events in London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff in conjunction with the Nuffield Foundation and London Economics. The theme in each place was higher education fees and funding, with a backdrop of:the forthcoming Westminster election and other political goings on –…
In 2023, the British Academy commissioned 11 members of its Early Career Researcher Network to write about their experiences of life and work in UK higher education. The essay collection shines a light on the voices, perspectives and journeys of early career researchers, poignantly showcasing the realities and challenges faced…
Franchised provision of higher education has been under the spotlight in recent times. Without shying away from the challenges faced by those delivering successful franchise arrangements, this paper shows how important franchising can be in extending access to higher education. The authors explain what protections need to be in place…
There’s one certainty about higher education funding in Wales: whatever you say about it, someone will shoot you down in flames. (And there will be more heat than light.) Five years ago, we published a paper, Is ‘progressive universalism’ the answer? The new student funding arrangements in Wales, which pointed…
In a new paper from the Higher Education Policy Institute, Student Accommodation: The State of the Nation in 2024, Martin Blakey, the former Chief Executive of the Leeds-based student housing charity Unipol, explains the changes in the student accommodation market that have led to higher rents. Following the recent announcement that…
While Margaret Thatcher was the Secretary of State for Education and Science in the 1970s, she instructed people working in independent educational institutions to: ‘never apologise for independence. It is worth stimulating and nurturing for its own sake. You do not have to justify it. It is those who wish to…