The HEPI Blog aims to make brief, incisive contributions to the higher education policy landscape. It is circulated to our subscribers and published online. We welcome guest submissions, which should follow our Instructions for Blog Authors. Submissions should be sent to our Blog Editor, Josh Freeman, at [email protected].
As the Office for Students (OfS) finalises the new wave of Access and Participation Plans (APP) from volunteer ‘wave 1’ providers, it felt timely to reflect on the journey we’ve been through over the past 12 months. In October 2022 the OfS launched its consultation on the new approach to…
Universities are in a difficult spot. Demand for higher education is high, with more and more young people seeing the value of a university education, which is obviously great news for the sector. On the other hand, we’re hearing from university leaders that there are fewer and fewer staff around…
Allegations of sexual harassment and assault by students aren’t going away with awareness campaigns and helplines. A new Oxford University study has found that one in four female students at the university had experienced some form of sexual assault in the previous year. While there are sector-wide standards in place, there…
The Premier League is widely regarded as one of the UK’s finest global exports. An industry that has a proud historic tradition on these shores and is the envy of most nations across the world. Lauded as a great British brand, its powerful global reach is a tool in international…
In common with most institutions in the sector, Keele is aiming to expand its connections in China. As part of this work, in September 2023 I joined a mission of Vice-Chancellors, Pro-VCs, and senior staff from 20 UK universities. We visited Beijing, Shanghai, and some other cities. The meetings were…
Not a week goes by these days without a story in the print or broadcast media about the dire finances of UK universities. Why? As a university chair neatly put it in these pages, ‘all our costs are rising fast, and our largest single source of income is constrained by…
As we edge ever closer to the next General Election, it cannot have escaped anyone’s notice that politicians from both major parties are starting to ‘talk tertiary’ in a bid to fix Britain’s growing skills shortages and ensure people receive appropriate education and training to unlock meaningful careers within key…
Universities across the UK offer an impressive scope and scale of interventions to support students in financial need but despite the scope and scale available, as HEPI report – How to beat a cost-of-learning crisis: Universities’ support for students – pointed out, students in many universities are unable to receive…
The Robbins Report was not produced (paras 1-2) out of a political vacuum. The Government had been alerted to the future funding dilemmas posed by the likely increase in the demand for student places in higher education by the Treasury through the University Grants Committee (UGC) and appointed Lord Robbins…
This blog is part of a short blog series on freedom of speech, and practical implications for universities. Part One discussed the ‘objective harassment’ test, and why it is difficult to objectively consider such a subjective issue. Part Two discussed the difficulties universities face in judging whether a proposed speech…