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].
In common with most institutions in the sector, Keele is aiming to expand its connections in China. As part of this work, in September 2023 I joined a mission of Vice-Chancellors, Pro-VCs, and senior staff from 20 UK universities. We visited Beijing, Shanghai, and some other cities. The meetings were…
Not a week goes by these days without a story in the print or broadcast media about the dire finances of UK universities. Why? As a university chair neatly put it in these pages, ‘all our costs are rising fast, and our largest single source of income is constrained by…
As we edge ever closer to the next General Election, it cannot have escaped anyone’s notice that politicians from both major parties are starting to ‘talk tertiary’ in a bid to fix Britain’s growing skills shortages and ensure people receive appropriate education and training to unlock meaningful careers within key…
Universities across the UK offer an impressive scope and scale of interventions to support students in financial need but despite the scope and scale available, as HEPI report – How to beat a cost-of-learning crisis: Universities’ support for students – pointed out, students in many universities are unable to receive…
The Robbins Report was not produced (paras 1-2) out of a political vacuum. The Government had been alerted to the future funding dilemmas posed by the likely increase in the demand for student places in higher education by the Treasury through the University Grants Committee (UGC) and appointed Lord Robbins…
This blog is part of a short blog series on freedom of speech, and practical implications for universities. Part One discussed the ‘objective harassment’ test, and why it is difficult to objectively consider such a subjective issue. Part Two discussed the difficulties universities face in judging whether a proposed speech…
QAA has the privilege of a UK-wide remit, with varying roles across the nations. With this comes a bird’s-eye view of approaches to higher education quality. While the exact way in which higher education is governed, funded and regulated may differ, the devolved nations share a number of key principles…
This blog is part of a short blog series on freedom of speech, and practical implications for universities. This is based on this information we have about university expectations to date, including the Office for Students’ (OfS) Insight Brief: Freedom to Question, Challenge and Debate. Yesterday’s blog discussed the ‘objective…
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act became law on 11 May 2023. The new statutory duties on free speech for universities and colleges, and for relevant students’ unions, will come into force on 1 August 2024 and the new conditions of registration (rules that universities have to follow) on…
A recent report highlighted that a large part of the UK Higher Education sector had seen a decline in enrolments from both India and Nigeria in their September 2023 intakes. The news prompted a swathe of internal reviews amongst universities, keen to understand such unexpected shifts. It is now important…