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Nick Hillman

  • A-Level results day – a few thoughts on what to look out for

    14 August 2014

    Good luck to everyone getting their A-Level results today – and, remember, if you haven’t got the results you hoped for, there is lots of information available and there are other opportunities out there. This is a big year in terms of university entrance because the Government is starting to roll…

  • Why universities should not buy their loan books – Guest Blog by Alasdair Smith

    5 August 2014

    David Willetts’s recent suggestion that universities might buy the loan books of their own students has generated some ill-considered reaction, so Nick Hillman’s comments are valuable. Nick points out first that there is no necessary link with any selective increase in the fees cap. And, given that much of the…

  • Selling student loans to universities: what’s been missed?

    4 August 2014 by Nick Hillman

    I’ve resisted the temptation to say much about the proposal to sell off parts of the student loan book to universities so that they come to own their former students’ debts. The story was covered extensively by Newsnight last week and in the newspapers afterwards, including in a piece published in…

  • Interview with the HEPI Director

    30 July 2014

    In the latest edition of GMT, which is published by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU), there is a lengthy interview with the HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, touching on careers advice, the 2015 general election and the financial sustainability of the higher education system.

  • Today is the 70th anniversary of an important fair access report

    26 July 2014

    On Wednesday, 26th July 1944, the Board of Education published The public schools and the general education system by the Committee on Public Schools, which is known as the Fleming Report. The terms of reference for the committee were: To consider means whereby the association between the Public Schools (by which term is meant…

  • Professor Steve West, Chair of the University Alliance, responds to HEPI’s new report

    24 July 2014

    As ever, HEPI is providing useful and stimulating food for thought as the sector and others grapple with certain recurring issues.In particular, we agree that the UK’s obsession with hierarchy limits the understanding of many people that excellence exists across the higher education sector. We all need to do more to challenge this…