Skip to content
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.

  • Response to the higher education green paper

    7 January 2016 by Graham Gibbs, Bahram Bekhradnia, Roger King, Gary Attle, Roxanne Stockwell and Emma Sims (edited by Nick Hillman)

    The echoes of the past in the higher education green paper appear accidental and do not reflect much institutional memory. So HEPI has chosen to respond to the proposals by asking experienced people with deep roots in the higher education sector to reflect on them. The authors are: Graham Gibbs on teaching; Bahram Bekhradnia…

  • Employability: Degrees of value

    10 December 2015 by Johnny Rich

    Enhancing the employability of graduates is a key aim of the new green paper on higher education. Yet it contains no proposals aimed directly at achieving it. This pamphlet starts by explaining why employability is not the same as employment. Employability is about securing a rewarding and fulfilling career, not…

  • Students and the 2015 general election: Did they make a difference?

    15 October 2015 by Nick Hillman

    Before the 2015 election, it was believed students would play an important part in the result. They were the target of Labour’s commitment to reduce fees, and the NUS’s ‘Liar Liar’ campaign was aimed at politicians who had broken promises made at the previous election. Meanwhile, a new electoral registration…

  • Keeping up with the Germans?: A comparison of student funding, internationalisation and research in UK and German universities

    3 September 2015 by Nick Hillman

    This pamphlet compares the UK and German higher education systems and find some stark differences. Funding: While fees were being tripled in England, German states were abolishing them.  Internationalisation: While the UK has been sending mixed messages to potential international students, Germany has looked outwards as a way to strengthen its…

  • What do home students think of studying with international students?

    25 June 2015 by Nick Hillman

    The results of a survey commissioned by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) shows students believe they benefit in many ways from studying alongside people from other countries – however, benefits are clearer to international students.

  • 2015 HEPI-HEA Student Academic Experience Survey

    4 June 2015 by Alex Buckley, Ioannis Soilemetzidis and Nick Hillman

    The Higher Education Policy Institute / Higher Education Academy 2015 Student Academic Experience Survey includes questions on class size, attendance, the qualifications of lecturers, contact hours and total workload, written assignments, student wellbeing, information and policy options. It was published at an exclusive Policy Briefing day for organisations that support…

  • The accounting and budgeting of student loans

    21 May 2015 by Andrew McGettigan

    Understanding of how student loans appear in the national and departmental accounts is poor. Yet the issue is crucial to the future of student finance, to any sale of the student loan book and even to the size of the UK’s debt. This paper seeks to explain the accounting and…