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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].

  • Outreach: The importance of life beyond the classroom

    3 February 2021 by Nick Barker

    This blog was kindly contributed by Nick Barker. Nick works for Warwick University doing schools outreach work. He is based in a primary school serving an area of severe social deprivation and is a member of the University’s Strategy Group. ‘I’m stuck’, said Karen, looking up at me with an…

  • How well do you know your applicants?

    1 February 2021 by Abhishek Nakhate & Bill Rammell

    This blog was kindly contributed by Abhishek Nakhate, Founder and CEO of Zilter & Zoom Abroad, and Bill Rammell, Former Minister of State for Higher Education and a former Vice-Chancellor. The most successful universities in terms of student recruitment devote time, money and staff to really know and understand potential…

  • Making the case for the London Weighting

    28 January 2021 by Diana Beech

    This blog has been written by Dr Diana Beech, Chief Executive Officer of London Higher – the body representing over forty London-based universities and higher education colleges. She was previously Policy Adviser to the last three Universities Ministers. You can find Diana on Twitter @dianajbeech . Buried among the flurry…

  • Exam appeals – a contradiction that must be resolved

    27 January 2021 by Dennis Sherwood

    This blog was kindly contributed by Dennis Sherwood, who is on Twitter @noookophile. Official consultations are important documents, if only to allow the issuer to claim that ‘we consulted widely’. Whether or not the issuer is influenced by any responses is another matter, and those responses are of course heavily…

  • The Government risks narrowing the path to higher level skills

    26 January 2021 by Scott Kelly

    This blog was kindly contributed by Dr Scott Kelly. Scott lectures in British Politics at NYU and was an adviser to the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning 2010-12. He has written papers for HEPI on BTECs and Levels 4 and 5. For anyone who has been involved…

  • Can the pandemic bring a new dawn for flexible higher education?

    25 January 2021 by Luke Myer

    This blog was kindly contributed by Luke Myer, Policy and Public Affairs Officer at the Quality Assurance Agency. It is based on a private roundtable discussion in December with senior sector stakeholders in England. You can find Luke on Twitter @luke_myer. Last week, the Westminster Government’s long-awaited Skills white paper…

  • When will change come?

    23 January 2021 by Rachel Hewitt

    On Thursday, the Department of Education published a whole range of documents announcing developments in further and higher education. We were both overwhelmed with information and felt short-changed by the lack of firm details in some areas, such as the response to the Augar review which only received an interim response, with…

  • Online Learning in COVID Times: Reflections From My First Term

    22 January 2021 by Daniel Dipper

    This blog was kindly contributed by Daniel Dipper, a first year History and Politics undergraduate at Magdalen College, Oxford. You can find Daniel on Twitter @DanielDipper1 . Having started studying BA History and Politics at Magdalen College, the University of Oxford, in a time like no other, the first term…