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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].

  • Our approach to mental health is broken – but universities can fix it

    19 December 2018 by Will Allen-Mersh

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Will Allen-Mersh from Spill Mental health is, by all accounts, having a bit of a moment. The last few UK governments have consistently upped investment and support in the area. A raft of celebrities – from Stephen Fry to J.K. Rowling – have spoken…

  • A tariff threshold for HE admissions?

    18 December 2018 by Mary Curnock Cook

    This guest blog has been kindly written for HEPI by Mary Curnock Cook – follow her on Twitter at @MaryCurnockCook.  It was in the Browne Report in 2010.  The Browne team recognised that the government would need some kind of mechanism for controlling its exposure on student finance and proposed that a UCAS-tariff…

  • Why we will all still need to go on talking about international students in 2019

    17 December 2018 by Nick Hillman

    We started 2018 by publishing HEPI’s most substantial ever piece of work. Back in January 2018, we published a report by London Economics, commissioned jointly by HEPI and Kaplan International Pathways, which showed the contribution of international students to the UK. The report built upon our previous work on soft…

  • Why all students should do some Accounting

    14 December 2018 by Nick Hillman

    When, next week, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) rule on the way student loans appear in the national accounts, many people will perform a rue smile. The Government will be embarrassed because getting student loans off the books was arguably the primary cause of the high fees we have.…

  • When the levy breaks

    12 December 2018

    This guest blog has been kindly written for HEPI by Charlie Ball, Head of Higher Education Intelligence at Prospects. There can be few remaining individuals with an interest in student funding and who have studied the current system and its early consequences who would claim it is the best and…

  • High potential landscapes: higher technical education in the UK

    11 December 2018 by Rebecca Mameli and Ian Pretty

    A guest blog kindly contributed by: Rebecca Mameli, Head of HE Research and Qualifications, Pearson. Pearson is the UK’s largest awarding body and a leader in the design, development and quality assurance of career focused higher education. Ian Pretty, Chief Executive, Collab Group. Collab Group is a membership organisation which…

  • Have your say on the future career development support for researchers in the UK

    7 December 2018 by Janet Metcalfe, Head, Vitae

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Janet Metcalfe, Head, Vitae The 2008 Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers sets out clear standards that research staff can expect from the institution that employs them, as well as their responsibilities as researchers The sector consultation launched by the Concordat Strategy Group…

  • Higher T Levels: Panacea – or another ‘piece of the jigsaw’?

    6 December 2018 by Greg Walker

    A guest blog from Dr Greg Walker, who is Chief Executive of MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities and has worked in different parts of the tertiary education sector. The Secretary of State for Education’s speech on vocational education rightly highlights the importance of technical skills at a higher level.…

  • Parliamentary challenges…fees and Brexit

    5 December 2018

    Imagine the following scenario. First, a Prime Minister lacking a clear parliamentary majority feels obliged by electoral forces to bring a particular policy to Parliament for MPs to vote on. This policy is a notable u-turn from her previous position. The new policy is also an uneasy compromise. It does…