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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].

  • Examining the elusive ‘nexus’ between teaching and research 

    12 July 2022 by Joanna Thornborough

    This blog was written by Joanna Thornborough, Senior Policy Adviser (HE & Skills) at the British Academy. With uncertainty surrounding the UK’s association to Horizon Europe and a resurgence of COVID-19 cases threatening to cause more chaos when terms start afresh in September, academics could be forgiven for wanting to block out all thoughts…

  • The Textbook Problem and How to Solve It

    8 July 2022 by Rod Bristow

    This blog was written by Rod Bristow, who has worked internationally in assessment, qualifications and publishing for 40 years. Rod was President, Global Online Learning & UK at Pearson and is Past President of the Publishers Association. He is Visiting Professor at the UCL Institute of Education, an academy and…

  • Developments in higher education policy: the good, the bad and the ugly

    7 July 2022 by Nick Hillman

    This morning, HEPI Director Nick Hillman is delivering this short speech to the Annual Conference for the staff of UPP, a long-standing HEPI Partner. Introduction Although it didn’t happen on this occasion, I often get asked before speaking at conferences to submit what I am going to say many weeks…

  • The Open Access Opportunity: Building the Third Space

    6 July 2022 by Matt Flinders

    See our ‘Open Access 101’ by Dr Fiona Counsell, Head of Open Access Operations & Policy at Taylor & Francis, here. In her recent blog, Victoria Gardner explored whether open access was ‘the end or the means’? In this blog Matt Flinders argues that open access represents little more that the latest stage of a complex and…

  • Quality and Compassion: Reframing Academic Integrity

    5 July 2022 by Darren de Souza

    This blog has been contributed by Darren de Souza, Policy & Projects Officer of London Higher – the representative body for the UK’s largest regional higher education powerhouse in London. Darren is on Twitter @darren_desouza. UK higher education has a world-renowned reputation for academic excellence and student experience. As the UK’s…

  • We need our brilliant modern universities to tackle the big issues of the future 

    4 July 2022 by Rachel Hewitt

    This blog was kindly contributed by Rachel Hewitt, Chief Executive of MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities. Rachel formerly worked at the Higher Education Policy Institute, as Director of Policy and Advocacy. Before this, Rachel held a number of roles at the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). It has been almost…

  • Better targeting of mental health support is needed for international students 

    1 July 2022 by Iain Brennan

    On Thursday 7 July, HEPI is hosting a webinar to launch its new report on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller access to higher education. Book your free place here. This blog was kindly contributed by Iain Brennan, College Services Director, University of York IPC (Kaplan). The mental health of our university students received…

  • Wellbeing among LGBTQ+ students: successes and challenges 

    30 June 2022 by Omar Khan and Michael Sanders

    On Thursday 7 July, HEPI is hosting a webinar to launch its new report on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller access to higher education. Book your free place here. This blog was kindly contributed by Dr Omar Khan, Director of the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) and…

  • A life-changing scholarship for care leavers and estranged students

    29 June 2022 by Nyomi Rose

    This blog was kindly contributed by Nyomi Rose. Nyomi is currently studying Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics at the University of Bradford. She also runs her own successful social media and events consultancy.  Nyomi contributed this blog as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Unite Foundation and research into how…