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].
In my seven years at HEPI, the most controversial paper we have issued – by some distance – is a piece on academic publishing. It argued for a National Licence scheme, which would have given everyone in the UK free and legal access to current and past academic output that might…
This blog was kindly contributed by University Alliance’s Programmes Administrator Dr Ellie Crabtree, who supports the delivery of their Doctoral Training Alliance (DTA). Ellie completed a PhD in Italian Studies at the University of St Andrews at the start of 2020. You can find her on Twitter @evcrabtree This time…
This blog was contributed by Gabriel Roberts, who was a doctoral student in English when the Browne Report was published in October 2010. Since then, he has conducted research on writing about the value of the Humanities in the period 2010 to 2014. It is now just over 10 years…
This blog was kindly contributed by Chris Brasnett, former Postgraduate Education Officer at the University of Bristol Students’ Union (2019-2020). Chris is completing a PhD in membrane biophysics at the University of Bristol and you can find him on Twitter @csbrasnett Increasingly, there is a question at the heart of…
The largest private sector pension scheme in the UK … A couple of years ago, I spent much of the Christmas break in a Reading Room at the British Library. I was investigating the history of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). It was more fun than it sounds. The report I wrote…
Today’s blog was written by Sander Kristel, UCAS Chief Operations Officer. You can find Sander on Twitter @SKristel1 As Halloween, Bonfire Night and Diwali all pass and the Christmas countdown starts, admissions professionals usually begin to get a feeling for how the rest for the undergraduate cycle will pan out…
This blog was kindly contributed by a team of four authors: Chris Patton is Director of McKay Patton, a Principal Advisor with Wells Advisory, and a former PVC International for Southern Cross University and University of New England Michael Wells is Founder and Managing Director of Wells Advisory, a former…
This blog was contributed by David Hawkins, Founder of ‘The University Guys’. You can find David on twitter at @UniGuyDavid. HEPI and The University Guys are hosting an event on ‘Should more UK students consider higher education in Europe?’ with university speakers from Ireland, Austria, Spain, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.…
This is an extract from a speech delivered by Nick Hillman, the HEPI Director, to the GuildHE Council this morning. 1. Turf wars In the past few years, the pace of change in higher education policy has been enormous. Whether it has been driven by wider political upheaval, or new…
This blog was contributed by Dennis Sherwood who has previously written about A levels. At the Education Select Committee hearing on 2 September, Ofqual’s Chief Regulator, Dame Glenys Stacey, acknowledged that exam grades are ‘reliable to one grade either way’. Two weeks later, at the hearing on 16 September, Gavin…