Everything government, Parliament, the statistical agencies and the major policy institutes published — read, summarised and ranked so you can skim the day in a minute.
5,510 articles · 37 live sources · updated 1h ago
Dr Andy Smith reviews how the UK Quality Code has evolved alongside the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications, Subject Benchmark Statements and Characteristics Statements, arguing these reference points have created coherence and consistent quality standards across UK higher education.
Anila DeHart, an advisor on education–workforce coordination and former Deloitte global managing director, reflects on higher education leadership amid compounding disruption and uncertainty, offering insights for HE leaders on navigating turbulent financial, workforce and strategic challenges.
Labour’s new national apprenticeship scheme enrolled just 160 young people in its first eight months, far short of the 30,000 ‘foundation apprenticeship’ starts target by the end of this parliament, with the Adam Smith Institute blaming nationalisation for employers withdrawing.
Pre‑arrival Academic Questionnaire pilot data from over 7,800 new students at 15 English institutions confirms widespread transition challenges — from loneliness to belonging — and the blog discusses practical university actions to improve student integration.
HEPI’s policy director publishes a blog of observations from the Labour Party conference 2026, offering a non‑partisan roundup of sessions and themes from the party’s event.
Lucy Haire argues the on‑campus student experience is increasingly important for universities’ attractiveness and accommodation strategies, drawing on a roundtable held alongside Professor William Whyte’s report on the past and future of student housing.
A protected post titled ‘A Citizens’ Curriculum’ is available on Learning and Work Institute’s site; no excerpt provided, suggesting restricted access to a proposal or resource on civic learning.
Authors argue widening access to higher education is insufficient and call for a focus on 'graduate success' to improve social mobility, emphasising support after graduation so entrants from diverse backgrounds convert access into meaningful outcomes.
Argues that UK debate on international students is overly economic and neglects social costs from insufficient intercultural engagement, urging universities and policymakers to account for impacts on teaching, student integration and institutional culture beyond tuition revenue.
At HEPI’s June 2026 Annual Conference, staff and guests were asked what single change they would make to higher education policy; the piece publishes a selection of respondents’ brief proposals and reflections on governance, funding and access.
Analysis of three different ministerial statements over three years outlining the government’s changing positions on a statutory duty of care that universities owe students, highlighting inconsistencies across successive education ministers.
Dean of Students Dr Michelle Morgan and Dr David Gilani describe incoming university students’ experiences of loneliness, linking their observations to recent work including the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and ONS studies on measuring loneliness.
Lord David Willetts reviews William Whyte’s book The University: A History in Stone, Silk and Blood, praising its architectural-historical approach and its extension of Whyte’s earlier work on the rise of the university sector.
Professor Liz Austen discusses the OfS consultation from late 2025 on a proposed future quality system for higher education in England and Wales, outlining the significant implications those proposals would have for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and Access and Participation Plans (APP).
A HEPI guest review by Mary Curnock Cook assesses Paul LeBlanc’s Reclaiming Purpose, which discusses the role of universities amid growing use of AI and draws on LeBlanc’s experience leading large-scale online higher education.
Alan Lockey is a policy professional who previously led the RSA’s Future Work programme (2019–22), was director of research at Demos (2017–19), advised shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt, and worked on Labour’s 2015 education manifesto.