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

Blog

The HEPI Blog aims to make brief, incisive contributions to the higher education policy landscape. It is circulated to our subscribers and published online. We welcome guest submissions, which should follow our Instructions for Blog Authors. Submissions should be sent to our Blog Editor, Josh Freeman, at [email protected].

  • Changes to student entry quality in a marketised English higher education system

    18 September 2019 by Dan Monnery, Director of Strategic Planning, Nothumbria University

    A guest blog, kindly contributed by Dan Monnery, Director of Strategic Planning, Northumbria University As the dust settles on this year’s undergraduate recruitment round, vice-chancellors, directors of recruitment and finance directos will be reflecting on how many students their institution has been able to attract. Since the marketisation in England,…

  • Satisfying employers’ appetite for graduates

    16 September 2019

    This guest blog has been kindly written for HEPI by Tristram Hooley, Chief Research Officer, Institute of Student Employers Employers report a substantial rise in the number of graduates starting on graduate schemes this year. They have also increased graduates’ pay to make these jobs attractive. It seems to be…

  • Future-Proofing the HE Landscape – success versus winning

    13 September 2019

    By Ian Koxvold, Head of Education Strategy, PwC I was delighted to be invited to join a panel at the 2019 HEPI annual conference to speak on Future-Proofing the Higher Education landscape – and intimidated to follow excellent talks from Professor Julia Buckingham and the Rt Hon Dame Margaret Hodge…

  • The Future of Higher Technical education – do the government’s proposals deliver?

    12 September 2019 by Greg Walker, CEO at Million Plus, the Association of Modern Universities

    The UK Government is coming to the end of a major consultation in England on ‘higher technical education’, that is, work-focused qualifications at Level 4 and 5. This consultation is significant not least because it is the first from the Department for Education (DfE) dealing with policy proposals trailed in…

  • 15 things worth glancing at in the new Education at a Glance

    11 September 2019

    HEPI was honoured to host the UK launch of the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2019 in central London yesterday. It is a data-rich report that takes time to digest properly. So, as a digestive aid, we are listing 15 of the many stand-out facts. (NB In general, though not…

  • What issues will dominate higher education policy this autumn?

    9 September 2019

    We could spend all our time thinking about whether Brexit will happen, whether there will be a general election this side of Christmas or whether we eventually end up with another referendum to resolve current challenges. Yet there are a few areas that have been topical over the spring and…

  • Review by Danny Dorling of ‘The Case Against Education: Why the education system is a waste of time and money’ by Professor Bryan Caplan of George Mason University

    6 September 2019 by Danny Dorling

    HEPI is delighted to publish this review by Danny Dorling,  Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford, on a controversial new book questioning the value of education. HEPI’s other recent book reviews can be read here (on social mobility), here (on independent schools) and here (on data bias in…

  • Could AI help universities spot student success or failure earlier?

    4 September 2019 by Fred Singer

    This blog has been contributed by Fred Singer, CEO of Echo360. As the new academic year begins, universities across the country will be putting strategies in place to help reduce the 7.6% of full-time, first degree entrants at English higher education institutions who are no longer studying their courses the…

  • “Income-Driven” Loan Repayment? Maybe We Should Just Raise Taxes

    3 September 2019 by Nate Johnson

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Nate Johnson, Principal Consultant of Florida-based Postsecondary Analytics Income-driven or income-contingent student loans and their policy cousins have become popular financing mechanisms for higher education in English-speaking countries over the last few decades. Australia led the way starting in 1989 by essentially building student loan…