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The UK's only independent think tank devoted to higher education.

Nick Hillman

  • Should student loan defaulters be treated like tax evaders and benefit fraudsters?: New HEPI study of higher education in New Zealand and its lessons for the UK

    28 July 2016 by Sam Cannicott

    HEPI is today publishing a major comparative study entitled Higher Education in New Zealand: What might the UK learn? It has been written by Sam Cannicott, an education expert who until recently worked at Regent’s University London and who now works for Statistics New Zealand. The New Zealand higher education sector…

  • The first ever Higher Education Festival is coming this September

    27 July 2016 by Sir Anthony Seldon

    Guest blog by Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham What does the future hold for universities? The University of Buckingham is hosting the UK’s first Higher Education Festival covering all issues facing the sector. The Universities Minister Jo Johnson, the Shadow Higher Education Minister Gordon Marsden, the…

  • Will the new higher education topography prove sustainable?

    25 July 2016

    This blog is an extract from a speech the HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, delivered at the University of Buckingham on 25th July 2016. New entrants In the UK, it has been phenomenally difficult to get good quality independent higher education institutions off the ground but simultaneously too easy to run ones of questionable quality.…

  • What are the consequences of moving HE from BIS to the DfE?

    20 July 2016

    This article by Nick Hillman, HEPI Director, was originally published last Saturday on by HE from Research Professional. The head of steam has finally blown the gasket. The pressure that had been mounting for several years to plonk higher education policy back alongside other education matters within Whitehall has triumphed. The…

  • Where should HE reside in Whitehall?

    14 July 2016

    Back in 2014, aeons ago in political terms, I wrote a piece for Insight, the magazine of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, on whether or not responsibility for higher education policymaking should be plonked back in the Department for Education. Given the strong rumours of the demise of the current…

  • HEPI author Scott Kelly responds to the new Sainsbury review on Technical Education

    8 July 2016 by Scott Kelly

    The publication of the Report of the Independent Panel on Technical Education, chaired by Lord Sainsbury (published today), is hardly likely to receive anything like the attention given to the Chilcot report but it nevertheless shines an equally bright light on systemic failures in a vital area of public policy.…

  • What would PM May mean for HE?

    30 June 2016

    In today’s copy of The Times, Theresa May has an article launching her bid to become Conservative Party Leader and therefore Prime Minister. The piece ticks as many boxes as possible for the two electorates she has to satisfy: first, her 329 fellow Conservative Members of Parliament; and, secondly, the…

  • More bureaucracy please?

    29 June 2016

    This guest blog has been kindly contributed by Professor Graham Galbraith, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth. It is a timely reminder that higher education reform is likely to continue, despite the upheavals in the wider political landscape, and recommends some specific changes to the new Teaching Excellence Framework to reduce…

  • Challenger institutions: A response to the Alternative White Paper

    23 June 2016 by Gordon Sweeney

    This guest blog has been contributed by Gordon Sweeney, who is Head of Education at Point Blank Music School (http://www.pointblanklondon.com). In mid-June, a group of academics published an Alternative White Paper outlining their vision for the future of higher education. Unfortunately, the Alternative White Paper included various misconceptions about alternative…

  • Let’s not forget about international students

    21 June 2016

    Centre Write is, as its name suggests, the magazine of a centre-right think-tank called Bright Blue, which is headed up by Ryan Shorthouse. Its new edition – out this week – is timely, given this week’s vote, as it focuses on migration. There are too many interesting articles to list…