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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.

  • Oxford and Cambridge – how different are they?

    19 November 2009 by Juliet Chester and Bahram Bekhradnia

    This study  looks at Oxford and Cambridge universities and considers the extent to which they are distinctive compared to the rest of the UK higher education sector. It looks at the nature of their undergraduate student bodies, the outcomes of their teaching, the extent and quality of the research done…

  • Proposals for the Research Excellence Framework – a critique

    15 October 2009 by Bahram Bekhradnia

    The UK higher education funding bodies have published their proposals for the design and conduct of the Research Excellence Framework (REF), which will replace the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) as the method by which research will be assessed for the purpose of the allocation of their research funds. This paper…

  • Vouchers as a mechanism for funding higher education

    24 September 2009 by Bahram Bekhradnia and William Massy

    There has been continuing interest in the use of vouchers as a mechanism for funding higher education institutions.  In this report, HEPI analyses the pros and cons of vouchers, and looks at the implementation of voucher systems elsewhere in the world.

  • Male and female participation and progression in Higher Education

    5 June 2009 by John Thompson and Bahram Bekhradnia

    This report analyses the differences in the participation of men and women in higher education, and in their success when there. It shows that on virtually all measures women outperform men, and it discussses some of the possible causes for this and the implications. An annex to this report was published on…

  • The Role of the Market in Higher Education

    18 March 2009 by Professor Roger Brown and Professor Sir Peter Scott

    Leading HE experts Professor Roger Brown and Professor Sir Peter Scott, Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University, present two contrasting views on the role of the market in higher education. This report has been produced in partnership with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, as part of their fifth birthday celebrations.

  • Demand for Higher Education to 2029

    11 December 2008 by Nick Bailey and Bahram Bekhradnia

    This is the fifth report on demand for higher education that HEPI has published, updated each year in the light of the most recent information. Last year’s report extended the review beyond 2020, to 2029-30. This year’s report incorporates the most recent population projections from the Office of National Statistics…

  • The academic experience and outcomes of students with vocational level 3 qualifications

    2 October 2008 by Nick Bailey and Bahram Bekhradnia

    In January 2007 HEPI produced a report “Vocational A levels and university entry: is there parity of esteem?” that considered whether students with different level 3 qualifications progressed to higher education at different rates. The report concluded that students from vocational backgrounds as a whole were not underrepresented in higher…

  • Financial support in English universities: the case for a national bursary scheme

    18 September 2008 by Juliet Chester and Bahram Bekhradnia

    The introduction of variable fees for full-time Home and EU undergraduates in English universities has been accompanied by significant additional expenditure by universities on means-tested bursaries and on other financial aid for undergraduate students. However, this market is a highly distorted one, with serious consequences. This report therefore assesses the…

  • The Bologna process and the UK’s international student market

    22 May 2008 by James Cemmell and Bahram Bekhradnia

    This paper draws together several studies in order to consider the implication of the Bologna Process and the resultant reforms in other European higher education systems for the future of the UK as a destination for international students.