This is a timely reminder that course withdrawals can create extra stress for applicants as well as existing students. The impact of the financial crisis in universities reverberates more widely than sometimes realised. via @hepi-news.bsky.social bit.ly/44Ju3UE

Great blog, and thanks to @marycurnockcook.bsky.social for sharing. My new podcast - on Skills England - touches on this same issue: if we can't agree what the end goal is, it's pretty hard to agree on the right way forward! www.buzzsprout.com/1874905/epis...

"in order to make progress, it really is important to know which part of the question one is addressing, rather than lump everything together in one large basket of headaches labelled ‘skills’." Spot on Athene! (and good to see you at one of those roundtables mentioned)

When in doubt, read @smitajamdar.bsky.social - here providing a highly informed perspective on the @officestudents judgement on the University of Sussex bit.ly/3QR2e4E

I always enjoy @nickhillman.bsky.social book reviews and this one is great in thinking about AI @hepi-news.bsky.social bit.ly/3FRghVu

A privilege, as always, to talk to Nic Mitchell for @uniworldnews.bsky.social for this troubling piece – with great insights from @chrishusbands.bsky.social, Janice Kay, @marycurnockcook.bsky.social and others www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto...

Are your HE assessments AI-integrated, AI-supported or AI-integrated? Some great learnings from a webinar I chaired and wrote up with Bess Brannan from Cadmus @hepi-news.bsky.social bit.ly/41oFQoi

More engineering applications don't make for more engineers says @johnnyrich.com wonkhe.com/blogs/more-e...

Wonderful to be at the University of Leicester today to witness the unveiling of this portrait of former chancellor of the university, David Willetts - with his book A University Education, of course! (The artist is Vladimir Presnyakov)

"If government is not the solution, if the private sector is not the solution, if the status quo is not sustainable, the answer must be imaginative and engaged leadership which is not simply about ‘my institution’ but also about ‘our future’." @chrishusbands.bsky.social bit.ly/3CHmQZy

Great stuff from @hepi-news.bsky.social. A key reflections I have is how students’ unions were key in trying to create thoughtful, considered dialogue with protestors, institutions & local community. Often SU’s are labeled as part of a free speech problem, there are examples to the contrary here.

This is a fantastic report from @josh-freeman.bsky.social @hepi-news.bsky.social telling the story of the encampments and the toll on protestors, SUs, university leaders and students not involved in the protests. Many learnings. www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/01/30/n...

Excellent @hepi-news.bsky.social blog post this morning by Prof Amanda Broderick on the need to support international students' #employability better. www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/01/27/e... 1/6

"Yet rather than a disability, neurodiversity will come to be appreciated as one of our greatest assets in the 21st century," says Alice Thomson in @thetimes.com bit.ly/4jARgx9

Former Universities minister and architect of HERA, JoJohnson, is pained "to see the OfS give up on supporting start-ups and with such an embarrassingly weak justification for doing so." @hepi-news.bsky.social bit.ly/4heCeeY

Depressing reading from US in terms of demand for higher education - our demographic dip in the UK is due in a few years' time.... n.pr/409W3Nt

Interesting additional wrinkle in the proposed Lifelong Learning Entitlement arrangements uncovered here by Ian Blenkharn of @uniofbath.bsky.social - what about 5-year integrated master's with a placement year? @hepi-news.bsky.social bit.ly/4gMt49w

💡New research from Pearson and Cebr outlines how investing in digital transformation in UK state-funded schools will benefit students, teachers, and contribute up to £8.7 billion for the UK economy in 10 years. Read more: bit.ly/3PN7ztr

I'd forgotten that @hepi-news.bsky.social Boys to Men Report in 2016 caused a ruckus - and glad to read that HEPI will be revisiting this issue in 2025 @nickhillman.bsky.social bit.ly/4gD1qM7

"In truth, the problems we had at the start of the year are the problems we have at the end of the year. Too many children are not in school, disadvantaged children do a lot worse, and secondary teachers are too hard to hire," says @timleunig.bsky.social @schoolsweek.bsky.social bit.ly/3OXFr6f

Good to see this analysis and insights from Pearson on the use of AI in US higher ed, including seeing better student engagement from students using AI. bit.ly/3ZPvJsJ

"Going after the toxic misogynists of the “manosphere” only gets us so far. To properly tackle the crisis of teenage boys we should ban them from having smartphones," says Tomiwa Owalade @thetimes.com bit.ly/3ZH2fNR

Interesting take on awarding gap data here @wonkhe.bsky.social . We need to look at representation ratios as well as awarding gaps wonkhe.com/blogs/we-nee...

Important piece from colleagues ⁦‪at Uni of Leicester about the risk of universities which fall outside of MCAs being sidelined for funding and research ⁦‪@NCanagarajah‬⁩ ⁦‪@HEPI_news‬⁩ www.hepi.ac.uk/2024/12/06/b...

The first recommendations report from NFER's Skills Imperative 2035 project (I chair the strategic advisory board) offers 10 steps that government, employers & education providers can take to help those in ‘high risk’ roles. 🟣 More info: bit.ly/4fPyL5R 🟣 Report: bit.ly/4fLGWAr #Skills2035

Me and my son Rory doing a Santa Fun Run 5k for Katharine House Hospice 🎅🏼🎅🏼😂😂

Lovely at Hook Norton Brewery (with my son Rory) 😊

Beautiful but intensely sad piece from Afghan Chevening Scholar Naimat Zafary via @hepi-news.bsky.social bit.ly/3OvaWEx

This is a brilliant compendium of key trends in international student recruitment from ApplyBoard bit.ly/4ic4ksr

Brilliant piece from recent @hepi-news.bsky.social intern Famke Veenstra-Ashmore about the importance of student journalism bit.ly/4993Qiz

"Government has a part to play, but the two sectors [HE and FE] need to find common cause, and quickly." Spot on blog from @hughesdavid.bsky.social and @chrishusbands.bsky.social via @hepi-news.bsky.social bit.ly/3YYIbF4

Interesting and original thinking on universities creating value vs capturing value from James Coe @wonkhe.bsky.social wonkhe.com/blogs/its-ti...

Helpful (if depressing) analysis of demand changes following withdrawal of dependants' visas for international students from MetiBasiri/ApplyBoard - also with useful indicators of new markets and growing demand from eg Pakistan and Nepal @hepi-news.bsky.social bit.ly/3Bje4QF

Some personal news! I’m thrilled to be joining the Council at the University of Leicester le.ac.uk/news/2024/se...

Another important report from the NFER/Nuffield Foundation Skills Imperative 2035 research project (I chair the Strategic Advisory Board). Amongst other findings, qualifications are shown to have a bigger impact than just 'training' to protect workers at risk bit.ly/3BaA0x1

Hello! We're still getting used to this new place...but we will be posting news from the UK's only higher education think tank here (just as we have long done on the other place).

"The headline finding ? We’re miles away from a coherent [credit transfer] system," says Helena Vine on @wonkhe.bsky.social bit.ly/4dViY4t

Two HEPI blogs now calling for a reintroduction of some kind of student number controls - John Cater below and this from Peter Scott bit.ly/4cX8Xmk

Excellent piece from John Cater, this country's longest-serving Vice-Chancellor who offers some common sense options to shore up HE funding via the Higher Education Policy Institute's blog. NB - his reminder that the demographics get painful again in a few years bit.ly/47gQaRH

I wrote a chapter in this collection suggesting compulsory exit qualifications at years 1 and 2 of a full degree - to lower the hurdle of commitment for applicants and to start to drive a market in Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications

Thanks Johnny! Just following your lead as usual 🙃

Just joined BlueSky - it's going to be a long haul to get up to the nearly 10K followers I had on Twitter but I guess you have to start somewhere