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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].

  • How is your wellbeing? HE staff views sought for survey

    2 November 2018

    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…

  • Why is the UK so far behind in Tertiary Education enrolment?

    1 November 2018 by Hugo Dale-Harris

    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…

  • After the storm: Responding to critiques of our paper on student finance in Wales

    30 October 2018 by Nick Hillman

    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…

  • Some good budget-time reading? Try Vicky Olive’s HEPI report on University Cross-Subsidies

    29 October 2018 by Hugo Dale-Harris

    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…

  • We need a step-change in higher technical learning to boost productivity

    22 October 2018

    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…

  • Aligning Post-18 Entitlements and Apprenticeship Funding

    12 October 2018

    This guest blog has been kindly contributed by Mark Corney, who is a post-16 education and labour market consultant. Recommendations by the Independent Panel on Post-18 Education and Funding are awaiting advice from the Office for National Statistics on how income-contingent loans in higher education and adult further education should…