David Willetts’s recent suggestion that universities might buy the loan books of their own students has generated some ill-considered reaction, so Nick Hillman’s comments are valuable. Nick points out first that there is no necessary link with any selective increase in the fees cap. And, given that much of the…
I’ve resisted the temptation to say much about the proposal to sell off parts of the student loan book to universities so that they come to own their former students’ debts. The story was covered extensively by Newsnight last week and in the newspapers afterwards, including in a piece published in…
In the latest edition of GMT, which is published by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU), there is a lengthy interview with the HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, touching on careers advice, the 2015 general election and the financial sustainability of the higher education system.
On the Guardian’s Higher Education Network today, Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, argues that New Zealand may have lessons for the UK (especially England) and also Australia on the thorny issue of how to recover the student loans of former students who have moved abroad.
On Wednesday, 26th July 1944, the Board of Education published The public schools and the general education system by the Committee on Public Schools, which is known as the Fleming Report. The terms of reference for the committee were: To consider means whereby the association between the Public Schools (by which term is meant…
As ever, HEPI is providing useful and stimulating food for thought as the sector and others grapple with certain recurring issues.In particular, we agree that the UK’s obsession with hierarchy limits the understanding of many people that excellence exists across the higher education sector. We all need to do more to challenge this…
In the first HEPI Occasional Paper of 2014, ‘Only Connect’: Is there still a higher education sector?, Professor Sir David Watson calls for a new approach in three areas: 1. quality assurance: he coruscates “Successive UK governments’ privileging of the private over the public sector” and highlights “a blind spot:…
Today the Office for Fair Access announced its decisions on access agreements for 2015-16 – the second set of agreements that we’ve negotiated under my directorship. The most striking development in these new agreements is the smarter way in which universities and colleges are planning to spend their access money.…
In the first HEPI yellow book of 2014, Occasional Paper 8, Professor David Watson considers whether there is still a higher education sector. The paper calls for a more collective approach in three areas: 1. quality assurance 2. credit transfer 3. explaining the benefits of higher-level study
The cross-party Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee has today published a report on Student Loans. It is the output of an enquiry which HEPI’s former Director, Bahram Bekhradnia gave oral evidence to last year. It is as useful and thorough as you would expect. The key points are: acceptance of the official figure…