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

Blog

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].

  • A new UK-wide measure of socioeconomic disadvantage

    5 October 2021 by Tej Nathwani

    This blog was kindly contributed by Tej Nathwani, Principal Research (Economist) at HESA. Introduction Enhancing social mobility by ensuring there is equal opportunity for all and delivering more equitable growth across regions are policy objectives of governments in all UK nations. Higher education is expected to have an important role…

  • Stakeholder engagement is the only way out of the higher education drugs problem

    4 October 2021 by Arda Ozcubukcu

    This blog was kindly contributed by Arda Ozcubukcu, co-founder and director of NeuroSight. Arda is on Twitter @ArdaOzcubukcu. An open and honest conversation around drugs does not exist within and across higher education institutions. Staff and students do not believe there is an environment in which they can freely express…

  • Surfacing the employability value of the Humanities

    29 September 2021 by Kate Daubney

    This blog was kindly contributed by Dr Kate Daubney PFHEA FRSA, Director of The Careers Group, University of London. Kate is on Twitter @careerampersand. This blog is in response to the recent HEPI report on the Humanities and is the third to respond in a series of blogs following Nick…

  • (Yet Another) Crisis of the Humanities

    28 September 2021 by Peter Mandler

    This blog was contributed by Peter Mandler, Professor of Modern Cultural History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and the author of The Crisis of the Meritocracy: Britain’s Transition to Mass Education since the Second World War (Oxford University Press). Peter is on Twitter @PeterMandler1. This is the second in a series…

  • Levelling up opportunities for LGBT+ people in education and training

    24 September 2021 by John Cope

    This blog was kindly contributed by John Cope, Director of Strategy, Policy & Public Affairs at UCAS. John is on Twitter @john_cope. Starting an apprenticeship, or going to college and university is for many, including adult learners, a moment of liberation. It’s the point where financial independence begins, where many…

  • My Access Journey to Oxford

    21 September 2021 by Daniel Dipper

    This blog was written by Daniel Dipper, a current student at the University of Oxford. Daniel is on Twitter @DanielDipper1. This article intends to outline the initiatives that supported me to get to the University of Oxford, being the first in my immediate family to go to university and coming…

  • Reflections of an Afghan Chevening Scholar

    20 September 2021 by Naimatullah Zafary & Ruth Arnold

    Today’s blog was contributed by Naimatullah Zafary, an Afghan Chevening scholar and Ruth Arnold, Senior Advisor to Study Group and co-founder of the #WeAreInternational campaign. Ruth is on Twitter @RuthArnold.   On 28 August the last British flight evacuating civilians from Afghanistan left Kabul, bringing to an end an operation that…

  • How should course representatives be recognised for their work?

    17 September 2021 by Michael Natzler

    This blog was written by Michael Natzler, HEPI’s Policy Officer, who recently edited the HEPI essay collection, ‘What is the student voice? 13 essays on how to listen to students and how to act on what they say’ and contributed a chapter drawing on interviews with the Office for Students’…