The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) makes forecasts for future student numbers because of the knock-on consequences for public expenditure. I have pointed out the apparent pessimism in their forecasts more than once before – see here and here – and have also visited them to discuss their figures. We…
This guest blog has been kindly provided by Rod Bristow, President, Core Markets for Pearson. A College to Career Pathway for Students in Britain and the World This week, we are publishing the annual data for nearly three-quarters of a million BTEC qualifications taken in the past academic year. The…
Source: http://ukcomics.wikia.com/wiki/The_Numskulls The recent WonkHE Power List 2016 was a bit of fun with a serious purpose. Asking who wields influence over any policy area is a really good question – even though, as with all the other higher education league tables, we can argue over the results. (I declare an…
In New Zealand, the third arrest of a student loan defaulter has recently taken place and a new data matching arrangement to identify defaulters resident in Australia has begun. The UK could learn from these successful initiatives. Like the UK, New Zealand faces severe challenges in recouping student debt, particularly when…
Earlier today, I delivered the speech below to the Headmasters and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) / Girls’ School Association (GSA) annual University Admissions Conference at the University of Leicester. The speech: argues that independent schools often pick the wrong battles and could instead focus on the strengths they have in common with…
HEPI has undertaken a small piece of desk research on the tenure of university leaders over the past half a century. For a full explanation of the chart below, see the new blog outlining the research on the Times Higher website. Postscript (added 4th November, 2016): We generally aim to make…
This guest blog has been kindly provided by David Woolley, Head of Schools, Colleges and Community Outreach at Nottingham Trent University. If you are lucky, there may be a few times in your career when you are given the opportunity to really make an impact. For those of us working…
This blog is based on my remarks to a Policy Network event on the book, taking place in central London on 20th October 2016. I often wish there were more academics looking at higher education rather than just practising it, and it is rare indeed to come across a useful cross-country…
This new pamphlet by Bill Rammell, Vice Chancellor for the University of Bedfordshire and a former Higher Education Minister, argues the Government’s obsession with market competition ignores the fundamental purpose of universities to serve the public interest. He argues that the public interest should be reflected in legislation and calls…
HEPI has published a new policy paper, Protecting the public interest in higher education, by Bill Rammell, Vice Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire and the Minister for Further and Higher Education (2005-08) in the last Labour Government. The proposals in the paper include: changes to the new Office for Students to take greater account…