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.
5,498 articles · 37 live sources · updated 5h ago
Argues student accommodation must be central to access and participation policy: for care‑experienced and estranged students housing is fundamental to continuation, attainment and completion, not an add‑on student service.
Reflects on graduate underemployment as a temporary detour rather than a terminal outcome, drawing on the author’s NHS Alliance and University of Bath experience to discuss skills, career pathways and how graduates can recover professional trajectories.
Calls for a HERA 2.0 to update the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, shifting regulation away from market‑entry and competition toward alignment with England’s integrated skills economy, authored by Professor Dave Phoenix of The Open University.
A HEPI blog argues that higher and further education institutions can balance compassionate responses with compliance needs in areas such as mitigating circumstances, reasonable adjustments, harassment, appeals and conduct, urging cultures that combine care with accountability.
Opinion piece argues the need to clarify what a university degree actually delivers for students and employers, questioning the value proposition prospective students face when weighing the cost of higher education.
Argues universities must integrate widening participation across institutions rather than rely on isolated teams, warning that siloed summer schools and programmes will limit universities’ impact on social mobility.
Argues for a compulsory, minimum AI literacy requirement for all university students so they can both use and critically evaluate AI, rather than leaving such skills to optional workshops.
After the 2026 Conservative conference, HEPI reflects mixed messages on higher education policy from the party, offering observations on rhetoric and likely implications for universities and students without proposing detailed policy remedies.
Dr Manesha Peiris examines how sanctions for plagiarism, fabrication, collusion or use of generative AI can become part of a student’s identity, exploring consequences for individuals and how institutions might support students after penalties end.
Liam Earney of Jisc responds to Sir Chris Husbands’ HEPI essay New Choices, reflecting on digital foundations for a changing higher education sector and arguing for consideration of digital infrastructure and strategy in future planning.
HEPI and Cambridge University’s Centre for Parliamentary and Political Affairs publish the 10th Soft Power Index, finding the US and UK together educated 126 current world leaders, underscoring higher education’s global influence on leadership.
Rose Stephenson argues for evolutionary reform of higher education, favouring incremental policy changes over radical overhaul in a Universities UK debate with John Blake, emphasising continuity and measured improvement rather than disruptive restructuring.
At HEPI’s June 2026 annual conference, sector colleagues were asked which single higher education policy they would change; this Part Two publishes a selection of their brief reflections and suggested reforms from across the sector.
Five researchers from HERE@Manchester (Tom Fryer, Charlie Deeks, Sylvie Lomer, Paul Smith and Steven Jones) provide a response to Universities UK’s 10 July 2026 guide on contextual admissions, analysing its guidance on fair and transparent contextual admissions practice.
HEPI and Ellucian’s new policy note warns financial pressure compounds over time, drawing lessons from US university failures to explain how interconnected problems can drive UK institutions into decline and how they might spot and reverse those trends.
Argues that increased access to higher education must be matched by making the ‘hidden curriculum’ explicit, so students from underrepresented backgrounds can navigate academic and institutional expectations and succeed once admitted.
When a higher education provider closes, the immediate concern is student relocation; Professor Randall Whittaker argues decision-makers must also apply a ‘receiving’ test to ask why a particular institution should be chosen to take those students.
Professor David Mba argues that higher education’s emphasis on prestige over practical skills has produced mismatches: newly qualified nurses struggling to find nursing jobs even as the NHS reports workforce shortfalls, prompting a call to redefine ‘excellence’.
Argues that research culture overlooks support for researchers conducting emotionally challenging work, calling for explicit institutional conversations and better safeguarding, supervision and wellbeing practices within higher education.
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.
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.
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.