Last week saw Gavin Williamson announce the closure of schools and colleges, along with the cancellation of primary school tests (SATS), GCSEs and A levels. Higher education institutions have followed suit, with all universities now suspending face-to-face teaching. The Secretary of State’s speech also included the cancellation of school performance tables for…
This blog was kindly contributed by Mary Curnock Cook, a HEPI Advisory Board member and Chair of Council for the Dyson Institute. I often reflect that today’s youngsters are courageous and articulate and funny and breathtakingly clever in ways that my generation just wasn’t. Perhaps the distance in years has…
This blog has been written for HEPI by Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham. Universities will be changed forever by the Coronavirus crisis and its aftermath. A welcome harbinger has been a greater sense of unity and collective mission among universities than at any point in recent – sometimes…
This blog on yesterday’s announcement about this summer’s public exams has been written by Dennis Sherwood, an independent consultant. He has previously produced much of HEPI’s past output on A-Levels, including 1 school exam grade in 4 is wrong. Does this matter? I’ve just been reading about the proposed arrangements for…
If you find yourself with a little more time to read over the next few weeks while social distancing or self-isolating, then – after you have read and re-read HEPI’s recent output – may I recommend The Professor and the Parson by Adam Sisman? It is a biography of Robert Peters, who spent…
This blog was kindly contributed by Professor Paul Wellings, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong (and a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lancaster) in response to the latest HEPI, report After demand driven funding in Australia: Competing models for distributing student places to universities, courses and students by Professor…
This blog was kindly contributed by Vincenzo Raimo, Chief Relationship Officer at Unilodgers and Adjunct Professor of Global Higher Education at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology and Dr Janet Ilieva, Director and Founder of Education Insight. There is little certainty about what the impact of Covid-19 on…
This blog was kindly contributed by Eluned Parrott, Director of the Unite Foundation, the UK’s biggest provider of scholarships to care-leavers and estranged students. As the sector responds to the spread of Covid-19, the question of whether our thought processes are entirely inclusive once again springs to mind. Working with…
This blog has been written by Bethan Cornell, a PhD student at King’s College London. What might be the implications for doctoral (PhD) students and postdoctoral researchers that are unable to work due to Covid-19, either because of self-isolation or departmental closure? Work on projects may have to stop –…
It is fair to say that many of us working in higher education policy knew little about the new Universities Minister Michelle Donelan and the new Science Minister Amanda Solloway at the time of the recent reshuffle. Some commentary focused on the wider reshuffle, interpreting the appointment of many new…