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].
A new report from the NFER-led Skills Imperative 2035, An analysis of the demand for skills in the labour market in 2035 is a must-read for the higher education sector. Part of a five-year research programme funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the latest publication from a University of Sheffield team…
Kelly was an undergraduate student who was groomed and sexually harassed by a lecturer at her university. By the time she reported him, in 2019, the harassment had been ongoing for three years, and she had been hospitalised as a consequence of its deep impacts. She had to take a…
HEPI’s report, The Role of Universities in Driving Overseas Investment into UK Research and Development, published on 7th March 2023, provides national analysis of what is happening in this space. This blog discusses the key considerations for policy makers and the Higher Education sector on increasing investment into regional R&D…
Let us assume that higher education institutions want to have the best students they can get, admitted in the fairest way possible: not a very controversial assumption, even if sometimes people look to satisfice, by settling for something good enough, but perhaps not best. The assessment of ability and potential…
On the website of nearly every university, you will find an explanation that the institution is a charity. But what does this mean, apart from generous tax advantages? And why are universities not generally talked about as charities, in the same way as, say, Oxfam or Macmillan Cancer Support? One…
This HEPI blog was kindly authored by Nyika Suttie, Culture and Inclusion Training Officer at the University of Bath. Much has been made of the Free Speech Act gaining Royal Assent. Meanwhile, institutions such as King’s College London (KCL) and organisations such as HEPI and WonkHE have been asking the…
This book review of Paper Belt On Fire by Michael Gibson was authored by Lucy Haire, HEPI’s Director of Partnerships. If you work in or with universities and colleges, it’s easy to take for granted their raison d’etre. When books and articles are published that are critical of higher education institutions,…
I welcome the recent paper by Edward Venning Size is Everything: What Small, Specialist and Practice Based Providers tell us about the Higher Education Sector (HEPI Report 160). It helpfully reignites a debate about what the shape and nature of the UK’s higher education sector looks like, and – perhaps somewhat worryingly – suggests what it…
There is a long history of people getting their predictions about the future of technology, including the future of technology in education, wrong. Famously, after the Second World War IBM’s President said, ‘I think there is a world market for about five computers.’ Just ten years ago, in the words…
A Utility Equation is a mathematical construct, a formula doubtless known to Rishi Sunak and all who followed the discipline to Level 3 at 18. The construct is grounded in microeconomics, an abstract value you gain from a preference, the satisfaction you gain from a selection. But the author can find…