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 guest blog kindly contributed by Dennis Sherwood, who runs the Silver Bullet Machine consultancy. Twelve pairs of eyes looked intently at the small, dapper, moustachioed figure at the head of the table. “Your case is very like another I solved only recently,” he said. “Whilst a train was snowbound, a savage…
Jonathan Simons, formerly Director of Policy and Research for the Varkey Foundation, writes a review of the new book Life Lessons: The Case for a National Education Service by Melissa Benn. In the afterword of her short book, Melissa Benn recounts a speech she gave at a political meeting, in which…
Student mental health is rightly on the agenda, including from HEPI’s own publications such as The invisible problem? Improving students’ mental health by Poppy Brown and The Positive and Mindful University by Anthony Seldon and Alan Martin. However, it is vital that the mental health and wellbeing of staff working…
As we wait for Philip Augar’s review of post-18 education, it is worth reminding ourselves how the UK compares to other high income countries on tertiary education. World Bank data on the gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education provides one useful comparison metric of what is happening on the macro scale. To be clear, this is not just measuring Higher Education, which the…
This guest blog has been kindly written for us by Paul Humphreys, Founder and CEO at StudentCrowd and Member of the Higher Education Commission. To find out more about what StudentCrowd do, see Student Reviews, Recruitment and Retention published by HEPI in July 2018. In higher education, the “Acceptance Rate” is…
To my surprise, our recent paper on the new Welsh student funding system has proved more controversial than anything HEPI has published since our 2016 paper on male underachievement. People seemed to find it helpful when we responded to the critique we received for Boys to Men. So I shall…
We at HEPI are delighted that Vicky Olive’s report How much is too much? Cross-subsidies from teaching to research in British Universities has put her on the ‘Wonk to watch’ list at Wonkhe’s awards this year. It’s a piece well-armed with ‘killer facts’ with continuing relevance to policy debates. The report highlights the extent of the…
This year is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. So it is fitting that – on 27th November 2018 – it will be HEPI’s first ever Annual Lecture on African higher education. It will be delivered by Professor Ihron Rensburg, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg.…
This blog has been kindly provided by Scott Kelly, the author of two past HEPI reports: Raising productivity by improving higher technical education Reforming BTECs: Applied General qualifications as a route to higher education Scott was an adviser to the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning (2010-12) and lectures at…
This guest blog marking Colleges Week has been kindly provided by Dr Paul Phillips, CBE, Principal & Chief Executive of the Weston College Group. The Post-18 Review has the potential to create real opportunities for further education (FE) or alternatively to be a damp squib. Which will it be? Philip Augar and his team face…