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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].

  • Some headlines on university entry from A-Level results day by Mary Curnock Cook

    16 August 2018 by Mary Curnock Cook

    This guest blog has been kindly provided to HEPI by Mary Curnock Cook, Senior Adviser to Cairneagle, a member of the HEPI Advisory Board and the former Chief Executive of UCAS. The UCAS data published this morning gives a useful guide to trends in undergraduate entry to higher education –…

  • How to land a jumbo jet on a postage stamp

    10 August 2018 by Nick Hillman

    I have been asked a lot, particularly by journalists, about the vagaries of the university application system – and clearing in particular – this past week. It is a peculiar, difficult and stressful process that can last for months between submitting your UCAS form and having your place confirmed. As…

  • How should we respond to reports of a declining graduate premium?

    3 August 2018

    HEPI has occasionally published hard-to-find and interesting historic educational documents, such as Anthony Crosland’s 1965 Woolwich speech heralding polytechnics and Ken Baker’s Lancaster speech extolling the virtues of expanding higher education. Another important but often overlooked historical document is the expansionary education white paper of 1972. It includes a section…

  • Introducing smarter student planning

    27 July 2018 by Tony Nneke

    This guest blog has been put together by Tony Nneke, Higher Education Specialist at HEPI Partner Oracle. Student number planning is a complex task. Historically, student number data has been completed in spreadsheets and compiled from data from lots of different departments and systems – from finance departments, academic administrators through to…

  • When is an unconditional offer not an unconditional offer – and other points missed

    26 July 2018 by Nick Hillman

    Six under-reported points in today’s debate about the sharp rise in unconditional offers for applicants to higher education. The autonomy of universities over whom to admit is enshrined in primary legislation. This was confirmed in the most recent higher education act, which was passed just over a year ago. This…

  • #MeToo in higher education: the problem with the love of power

    25 July 2018 by Diana Beech

    On Monday 16 July, I chaired my final HEPI roundtable policy discussion, in conjunction with HEPI Partner Elsevier, looking at the topic of human behaviours in higher education. The discussion (held under the Chatham House rule) took as its starting point the #MeToo movement, which has exposed the prevalence of…

  • How can we address the ‘sub-degree deficit’?

    24 July 2018 by Greg Walker

    This blog has been kindly written for us by Dr Greg Walker, Chief Executive of MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities. Greg has worked in different parts of the tertiary education sector in his career. He recently wrote a blog for us on the topic of England’s choice for post-18 education. Work-related,…

  • Jisc and the mental health crisis in our universities

    17 July 2018 by Martin Hall

    Could data and analytics help to promote student wellbeing and mental health? Jisc commissioned independent global higher education expert Professor Martin Hall to examine this idea and he highlights the key findings of his report in this guest blog. Professor Hall was former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Salford and former…

  • Moving on to pastures new…

    16 July 2018 by Diana Beech

    For the past 18 months, I have been delighted to serve as HEPI’s first Director of Policy and Advocacy – a role which has cemented my deep-seated interest in higher education policy and instilled in me a genuine desire to contribute to the sustained success of the UK higher education…