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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].

  • What do students really think about tuition fees?

    27 February 2018 by Nick Hillman

    This month, I have spent time at both Edinburgh Napier University and the University of the West of Scotland as well as various English universities and I have also recently penned a new publication on tuition fees. So I have been mulling over the different student finance systems in place…

  • Arts on the cheap? Time for a return to evidence-based policymaking

    23 February 2018 by Professor John Last, Vice-Chancellor, Norwich University of the Arts

    This guest blog has been kindly written for us by Professor John Last, Vice-Chancellor of Norwich University of the Arts.  Don’t say it too loudly … but did evidence-based policymaking make a quiet comeback this week? Twenty months after Michael Gove declared that Britain has ‘had enough of experts’, the Prime…

  • The rise of commuter students…?

    20 February 2018 by Nick Hillman

    One of the lesser-spotted facts in yesterday’s announcements about the new higher education funding review was the Government’s intention to ensure more ‘commuter degrees‘. I have written about the plight of live-at-home students before. They are different to others, both in terms of their demographics and their outcomes. For example,…

  • Enterprise in higher education

    2 February 2018 by Emma Williams

    This guest blog has been written for us by Dr Emma Williams, who is a consultant working with higher education institutions to illuminate wider career choices for early career research staff. Mystery. Suspicion. Bemusement. All reactions I have encountered to entrepreneurial events whilst working with early career researchers at a variety…

  • The hallmarks of a successful university

    31 January 2018 by Diana Beech

    The following text is a transcript of a speech made earlier today by HEPI Director of Policy and Advocacy, Dr Diana Beech, to the University of Salford’s Student Housing Conference. I have today been asked to speak on what it takes to create a world-class higher education institution, looking at what the…

  • What’s the role of academics in supporting students’ mental health?

    30 January 2018 by Rachel Piper – Policy Manager at Student Minds

    HEPI has produced two recent reports on the important issue of students’ mental health (see here and here). Jointly with the Higher Education Academy, we also survey students each year to assess their wellbeing. So we were delighted to see the important new report from Student Minds entitled Student Mental Health: The Role…

  • Students’ unions in a changing world

    22 January 2018 by Diana Beech

    The following text is a transcript of a presentation made earlier today by HEPI Director of Policy and Advocacy, Dr Diana Beech, at the National Union of Students’ Chief Executive Networking Event at Leeds University Union. I have today been asked to outline the key trends and changes in higher…

  • Lessons for higher education from private – and quasi-private – schools

    22 January 2018 by Mungo Dunnett

    This guest blog comes from Mungo Dunnett, Director of Mungo Dunnett Associates, a strategic and research company working with UK schools and, increasingly, universities. I am not sure all universities understand how rapidly the higher education decision-making process is altering in private schools and the more selective end of the…

  • What are the biggest challenges facing higher education in 2018?

    17 January 2018 by Oliver Nelson

    It’s already been an eventful start to the year in world of higher education. On Tuesday 30 January, HEPI and PwC are joining forces to run a breakfast briefing on the changing policy landscape as well as provide some practical steps that will help higher education institutions to be successful…