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

Publications

In recent years, HEPI has produced over 20 reports a year. They are all available free of charge here on our website and all our longer reports are also available in hard copy from the HEPI office.

The version on the website should be regarded as the version of record.

  • University of Northampton: Waterside Story

    4 January 2024 by Nick Petford, Robert Griggs and Terry Neville

    In this HEPI Report, Nick Petford, Robert Griggs and Terry Neville explore the rationale and development of the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus, one of the UK’s most ambitious university relocation projects. They conclude with a series of lessons learned.

  • Connecting the Dots – The Need for an Effective Skills System in England

    23 November 2023 by Professor David Phoenix

    The lack of a strategic framework for post-16 education provision, combined with a confusing regulatory regime, is resulting in an incoherent and difficult to navigate offer for learners of all ages, as well as employers. In this HEPI report, Professor David Phoenix emphasises that to meet England’s ever more pressing…

  • REF2028: Outputs Matter

    2 November 2023 by Nigel Thrift

    In a new HEPI Policy Note, REF2028: Outputs Matter, Professor Sir Nigel Thrift, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick, argues the Research Excellence Framework (REF) is becoming overloaded – thereby diluting its core purpose. A response to this paper, which outlines a different perspective from Professor Stephen Curry, is…

  • Student accommodation costs across 10 cities in the UK

    26 October 2023 by Unipol and HEPI

    In the last three years there have been big changes in rent levels and the supply of student accommodation, driven and shaped by global and national economic turbulence. High inflation, high energy costs, high building costs and high interest rates have combined to produce unprecedented rises in rent. Because of…

  • 2023 English Social Mobility Index

    19 October 2023 by Professor Dave Phoenix OBE

    The English Social Mobility Index, which is compiled by London South Bank University (LSBU) and published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), compares the performance of individual English higher education providers. The Index measures the social distance travelled by graduates from each institution as well as the proportion of…

  • The Robbins Report at 60: Essential facts for policymakers today

    12 October 2023 by Nick Hillman

    The Robbins Report at 60: Essential facts for policymakers today (HEPI Policy Note 49) by HEPI Director Nick Hillman is also available in an html version below. The Robbins Report at 60: Essential facts for policymakers today The 1963 Robbins Report was undoubtedly one of the most important official social…

  • Election 2024: Three Vice-Chancellors’ Manifestos

    2 October 2023 by Professor Sir Chris Husbands of Sheffield Hallam University, Professor Sasha Roseneil

    In the run up to what is widely expected to be the most hotly contested general election for many years, three experienced vice-chancellors from English universities outline what they want the political leaders to include in their manifestos. Their ideas range across the full range of higher education and research…

  • Looking back on the 2022/23 academic year: HEPI’s Annual Review

    27 September 2023

    In the last academic year, 2022/23, HEPI produced more publications, hosted more events and secured more engagement with its work than ever before, finally leaving the worst impacts of the pandemic behind. As explained in our new 2022/23 Annual Review, this was a fitting way to mark the organisation’s twentieth…