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The UK's only independent think tank devoted to higher education.

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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].

  • What does the future hold for the National Tutoring Programme and volunteer-led tuition?

    27 May 2021 by Chris Davies

    This blog was kindly contributed by Chris Davies, a third year Classics undergraduate at New College, Oxford. You can find Chris on Twitter @chris_davies5. Chris writes about the importance of volunteer-led student tuition which studies (here and here) have shown to be ‘highly effective’. For educational policymakers, the benefits of…

  • Book Review: How can the bosses be ‘nudged’ to read ‘Noise’?

    26 May 2021 by Dennis Sherwood

    This blog was kindly contributed by Dennis Sherwood. Dennis has been writing for HEPI about A levels and exam marking over the last few years. You can find Dennis on Twitter @noookophile. Suppose that Mr Sherwood is right, and that, on average, one exam grade in every four is wrong.…

  • What does Engineering tell us about social mobility?

    25 May 2021 by Johnny Rich & Stella Fowler

    This blog was contributed by Johnny Rich (Chief Executive) and Stella Fowler (Policy Manager) from the Engineering Professors’ Council, the representative body of Engineering academics in UK universities. You can find Johnny on Twitter @JohnnySRich The Government is keen to use graduate earnings as a metric for the value of…

  • What do university applicants want from their higher education institutions?

    24 May 2021 by Dan Benyon

    This blog was kindly contributed by Dan Beynon, Head of Education at SMRS, which works with more than 30 universities supporting them with strategic marketing and consultancy. Dan has been working with universities in the UK and internationally for the last 21 years.  SMRS, in partnership with the Universities Marketing Forum (UMF) and…

  • Music album PLEASE HOLD: a research-based portrait of the ‘post-coronial university’

    21 May 2021 by Simone Eringfeld

    This blog was contributed by Simone Eringfeld is an educational researcher, poet and musician who uses sound-based methods such as podcasting and spoken word poetry in her academic work. For her MPhil thesis on hopes and fears for the post-coronial university, she received the BERA Masters Dissertation Award (2021). PLEASE…

  • The case for putting foundation years on more stable ground

    20 May 2021 by Chris Husbands

    This blog was kindly contributed by Professor Sir Chris Husbands, Vice-Chancellor, Sheffield Hallam University. Chris also co-authored HEPI Paper 125 ‘Making Universities Matter: How higher education can help to heal a divided Britain’. You can find Chris on Twitter @Hallam_VC. There are ominous storm clouds gathering on the horizon for…

  • What does ‘Levelling Up’ R&D look like?

    19 May 2021 by Andy Westwood

    This blog was kindly contributed by Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice at the University of Manchester. Andy is writing in a personal capacity and can be found at @andywwestwood on Twitter. It is good that the authors of HEPI’s report ‘Regional Policy and R&D’ note that the UK, by most agreed…

  • Healthcare students: unsung heroes of the pandemic

    17 May 2021 by Julie Attenborough

    This blog has been kindly contributed by Associate Professor Julie Attenborough from City, University of London. She is outgoing Chair of London Higher’s Healthcare Education Group (LHEG), which provides a forum for London’s higher education institutions that teach, train or conduct research in the healthcare professions. You can find Julie on Twitter at @CityJoolz.   …

  • WEEKEND READING: How higher education needs to fit into lifelong learning

    15 May 2021 by Graeme Atherton and Gordon Marsden

    Graeme Atherton, Director of the National Education Opportunities Network (NEON), University of West London and Gordon Marsden, Shadow Minister for Higher and Further Education and Skills from 2015 to 2019. You can find Graeme and Gordon on Twitter @NEONHE @GordonMarsden. Lighter days, brighter COVID statistics and the tremendous NHS achievement…