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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].

  • Industrious Efforts

    31 December 2024 by Phil Ward

    The consultation on the Industrial Strategy Green Paper closed at the end of November. Phil Ward, Director of the Eastern Arc research consortium (which comprises the universities of East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex), welcomes the intentions of the Strategy, but questions some of the details. Since the last Industrial…

  • Nostalgia is holding Oxbridge back

    30 December 2024 by Famke Veenstra-Ashmore

    Resistance to modernising Oxbridge reflects nostalgia for exclusionary traditions, despite evidence that small reforms could reduce systemic inequalities.

  • What were we reading about higher education in 2024?

    20 December 2024 by Josh Freeman

    As 2024 draws to a close, Josh Freeman, Policy Manager, and the HEPI team look back on a remarkable year in higher education policy. We have a fantastic programme of events to look forward to in 2025, which you can read all about here. One of the best things about…

  • Student Housing: A Question of Density

    18 December 2024 by David Tymms

    Rising student numbers and affordability pressures challenge the PBSA sector, highlighting a gap between student preferences and viable housing solutions.

  • Abolish SATs & GCSEs, put people’s IQs on their credit cards and ban the Harvard Women’s Rugby Team? What we were reading about education in 2024

    17 December 2024

    Nick Hillman, HEPI’s Director, takes a look at three thought-provoking books covering education that were published this year. All must have prizes – Mania by Lionel Shriver The novel Mania by Lionel Shriver imagines a world in which twenty-first century US life came to be the opposite of a meritocracy. Words like ‘dumb’ and…

  • Civic universities must engage adult learners

    16 December 2024 by Aveek Bhattacharya

    Engaging adult learners through flexible, community-focused education can enhance personal growth, societal benefits, and universities' civic impact.

  • Weekend Reading: Keeping professional development continuous for researchers

    14 December 2024 by John Miles

    By John Miles, Founder and CEO of Inkpath. Writing in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Iker Sainz, Josu Solabarrieta and Isabel Rubio investigate students’ tendency to drop out of sports and exercise when they go to university. They conclude that: ‘Lack of time (or dedication to…