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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 influential are student voters? The HE general election issues, Day 1

    5 June 2024 by Nick Hillman

    There is a common view that students are a particularly influential group of voters. There are lots of them and they tend to be concentrated in certain parliamentary constituencies – plus it is known that people with higher levels of education tend to be more likely to vote than those…

  • We have a Vision for the Future – the Russell Group Students’ Union Manifesto

    4 June 2024 by Tesnime Safraou

    ***At 9am tomorrow, Wednesday 5 June, we are hosting a webinar on the Australian Universities Accord. You can register here.*** Higher Education is at a critical juncture. As demand for university education increases, the financial support systems meant to sustain this growth are crumbling. For the past decade, real-terms funding…

  • UK student recruitment numbers down, but is that the whole story?

    30 May 2024 by Matteo Quacquarelli

    ***Next Wednesday 5th June we are hosting a webinar on the Australian Universities Accord – you can register here.*** With confirmation that the UK government won’t change or axe the Graduate route visa, the release of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) Review, the UK’s net migration figures being announced, and…

  • Lunchtime Reading: Does the Apprenticeship Levy need reforming?

    29 May 2024 by Mandy Crawford

    Scarcely a month goes by without businesses, political figures or employer representative bodies demanding significant changes and reforms to the Apprenticeship Levy.  But are these demands justified, what impact could drastic reform have on the higher education sector and are the original core principles and benefits of the levy being…

  • Why is UK HE in Breakdown? A Lecturer’s View

    29 May 2024

    My book couldn’t have come out at a timelier moment – even if I say so myself and even if my own job is vulnerable as a result. It’s no exaggeration to say that UK HE is in breakdown, with each day bringing news of yet another university slashing jobs,…

  • Perceptions of research culture

    28 May 2024 by Juliana Rinaldi-Semione

    The REF: can’t live with it, can’t live without it. That seems like a functional summary of the varied attitudes toward the Research Excellence Framework (REF) that exist within and across institutions. And in the 2023-24 academic year, there has been much ado and additional mixed responses around the new…

  • Bank Holiday Reading: Higher Education and the green workforce transformation

    27 May 2024 by Claire Hughes, Lynda Dunlop, Hannah Smith and Louise Thurston

    In a recent global report on green skills by LinkedIn, it was revealed that possessing one or more ‘green skills’ can increase the chance of getting hired by 29%.  The number of jobs requiring at least one green skill has grown, but this demand is fundamentally outpacing the increase in…