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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].

  • Why UK universities must win a better funding settlement

    25 May 2020 by Lucian J Hudson

    This blog was written by Lucian J. Hudson, Lead Author, Universities at the Crossroads, and past Director of Communications, University of Oxford and The Open University. In my report for Policy Exchange published in February before Coronavirus moved centre stage, I warned that the higher education sector was not yet…

  • WEEKEND READING: Leading and Containing in Higher Education during Covid-19

    23 May 2020 by Charlotte Williams

    This piece was kindly contributed by Charlotte Williams, a qualified organisational consultant, counsellor, trainer and clinical supervisor at Tavistock Consulting. Charlotte has over 17 years of experience in higher education and was previously head of a London University Counselling Service and has a particular interest in staff and organisational wellbeing.…

  • Clap for our student healthcare workers

    21 May 2020 by Rachel Hewitt

    Coronavirus has impacted our lives in a multitude of ways, including bringing fears for students about the labour market they are going to enter. In a recent HEPI Policy Note, published in partnership with JobTeaser, we asked students whether the pandemic had changed their feelings about entering the workforce. For the majority…

  • The wider student experience and supporting community in lockdown

    20 May 2020 by Bethan Cornell

    In this blog, Bethan Cornell, a Physics PhD Student at King’s College London who is undertaking an internship at HEPI, explores some of the best practice by universities in continuing to deliver the wider student experience under lockdown. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, institutions have rapidly moved away…

  • Does everyone need a chief scientist?

    15 May 2020 by Andy Westwood

    This blog was kindly contributed by Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice at the University of Manchester. Andy is writing in a personal capacity and can be found at @andywwestwood on Twitter. By now we are all familiar with Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Chris Whitty, Dr Jenny Harries and…

  • Postgraduates: the understated powerhouse of UK higher education?

    14 May 2020 by Diana Beech

    This guest blog responding to HEPI’s new report on postgraduates has been written in a personal capacity by Dr Diana Beech (Head of Government Affairs at the University of Warwick). Diana was Policy Adviser for higher education to various Ministers for Universities and Science (Sam Gyimah, Jo Johnson and Chris…

  • Online learning: Are we asking the right questions?

    13 May 2020 by Rachel Ambler, Gervas Huxley and Mike Peacey

    This blog was kindly contributed by Rachel Ambler, an independent researcher, Gervas Huxley, Teaching Fellow at the University of Bristol, and Mike Peacey, Senior Lecturer at the New College of the Humanities. Without warning, and almost overnight, the higher education sector has embarked on a whole-scale experiment in online learning.…