Entering into higher education policy by accident Like almost everyone else working in higher education policy, I fell into the area by accident. In the second half of 2007, I was invited to go and work as the Chief of Staff for the Shadow Cabinet member David Willetts. I had…
These are the remarks made by Nick Hillman, HEPI Director, at the HEPI / KCL Policy Institute fringe event at the 2024 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. A sketch of his time at the Conference is here. What is the Conservative approach to UK higher education now? I’ve no idea…
This speech was delivered by Nick Hillman (HEPI’s Director) in a personal capacity in his role as a Council Member at the University of Buckingham. Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to speak at this important event. Our overarching theme today is ‘Educating the Educators’. I have spent most…
This speech looking back at the last 14 years of higher education policy and forward to what might come next was delivered yesterday by HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, to staff at the Open University. Introduction It is great to be back here at the Open University (OU). As I live…
Before I worked at HEPI, I worked at the University of Bath, developing organisational policy – so I have a particular interest in how national policy and regulation translates into action, on the ground, in higher education providers. I’m speaking this morning about developing robust safeguarding policies to enhance the…
Just over a month ago, our Prime Minister, Rt Hon Rishi Sunak, made a statement in his speech to the Conservative party conference. He said that: “The false dream of 50 per cent of children going to university […] was one of the great mistakes of the last 30 years.”…
On Wednesday, 10 January 2024, HEPI and Advance HE will be hosting a webinar on tertiary education from 10am to 11.15am – for more details, click here. Thank you all for coming to hear my talk about Tertiary Education for the 21st Century. I confess that as I have prepared for…
This week is the last week of term at many universities. So we will be marking the start of the Christmas period with three detailed pieces on the state of higher education at the end of 2023. These will feature on our News page (and are in addition to the…
It is great to be back in Bradford. Thank you for inviting me. I have visited a few times since becoming HEPI’s Director 10 years ago. The other day I looked back to what I said to you during my first visit, at the end of the 2014/15 academic year…
Thank you for inviting me to speak here in Wolverhampton. It is a huge pleasure for three particular reasons. First, despite working in higher education policy for well over 15 years and despite having visited nearly every UK university, I have never visited the University of Wolverhampton before. Secondly, it…