Hugely excited at the latest dashboard we’ve developed to let you have a systemwide view of student number trends in SHAPE (social science, humanities and arts subjects) across UK higher education. Also you can see characteristics & mobility. Have a play! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

So pleased to see this published 👇 'Who Studies SHAPE' is the latest SHAPE observatory dashboard from the BA, and it’s been great to see it come together. It compliments our cold spots work nicely too with stats on uptake and a page about regional mobility.

And today's release of the updated (and expanded: new types of data in addition to another year of data) British Academy interactive cold spots maps for UK Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences undergraduate programmes underlines this message. Ruairí Cullen's overview is open access on Wonkhe.

Don’t think @britishacademy.bsky.social has ever made it into a @mrjohncrace.bsky.social sketch before! And we do have bigger rooms to rent should you want them…

To mark Black History Month - some historic events & stories with an Irish dimension, from people of mixed heritage living in Ireland in the 18th century, to novelists today exploring what it means to be black and Irish https://www.irishinbritain.org/news/black-history-month-did-you-know-1/

In case you missed it: our latest report explores a growing crisis in universities. In many regions, students risk losing access to vital humanities, social science and arts subjects. Swipe to see our key findings and recommendations.

'As universities close courses and departments in response to financial pressures...students in parts of the North, South West and East of England, as well as large areas of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are losing access to social sciences, humanities and arts (SHAPE) courses.' 1/2

It’s GCSE results day: new data shows Spanish has overtaken French in popularity for the first time in history, while German uptake continues to decline. Read the full story here 👉 buff.ly/rx4fJ4z

A level entry data revealed today shows that Economics and Politics continue to grow in popularity with students – while other social sciences, humanities and arts face declines. See the full story here:

It's results day in Scotland and we have updated our data on SHAPE discipline uptake across National 5s, Highers, and Advanced Highers. Explore 10 years of trends on our Indicators dashboard at the SHAPE Observatory: buff.ly/sSAqARJ

A comment from me today in the Sunday Times about studying subjects like Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Uptake data can be found www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

UK higher education: 'much of the current discussion – and policymaking – is shaped by narrow metrics, which over-focus on graduate earnings. This approach overlooks many of the ways graduates contribute to society and distorts our understanding of the value of different subjects.' 1/2

NEW on Wonkhe: The British Academy has released analysis of what social sciences, humanities, and arts graduates do after graduation. Pablo Roblero and Alfie Denness introduce the findings buff.ly/pB45bCX

Cold spots discourse is getting so hot right now: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Our map of cold spots in provision of humanities and social sciences courses and student numbers across the UK has been updated with the data for the 2023/24 academic year. Explore for yourself here: buff.ly/2x7yE5K

How can we turn data into impact? Molly Morgan Jones, Director of Policy and Pablo Roblero, Senior Data Analyst highlight the importance of narrative. Our work to map course closures using layered long term data illustrates this approach: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Our inaugural SHAPE Conference is underway, exploring how the humanities and social sciences can be supported and strengthened across policy, education and R&D. We will be sharing insights and ideas from our speakers here throughout the day.

Beautiful day for the first ever SHAPE conference on all things policy, HE and the humanities, social sciences and arts! @britishacademy.bsky.social

"On his missionary work, he was said to have changed water to honey, and cheese into stone and back to cheese again" - impressive work!

Great piece from @lyntonlees.bsky.social laying out why we're publishing our geoviz tool and what it offers advocates of the humanities and social sciences. The maps are simple to use but tell a complex story.

Dead excited to see our new providers map out in the world. Delve into the data with @lyntonlees.bsky.social below!

And if you don't have time this week/month to read the @britishacademy.bsky.social 's 72 report on the discipline of Politics & International Relations in the UK, this @wonkhe.bsky.social piece by Connor McKenzie offers a succinct summary of the key findings.

I’m recruiting 2 Deputy Head of Policy roles to join my team at @britishacademy.bsky.social. First up - Deputy of Research Policy, helping guide all things R&D, innovation, research funding and culture. £50k salary, 34 days leave & an unbelievable pension! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/about/jobs/d...

🚨Job alert 🚨Come work with us at the British Academy! We're hiring two Deputy Heads of Policy in HE & Research - exciting hybrid roles in a great team, with excellent benefits (come for the 34 days AL, stay for the beloved subsidised canteen). Details here: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/about/jobs/

ICYMI we’ve launched a new beta tool using HESA data to track if university departmental closures are leading to geographical ‘cold spots’ for the availability of particular social science/humanities/arts subjects www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Very relevant from @torstenbell.bsky.social last week on university cold spots. Today we've launched our new mapping tool to identify potential shape cold spots www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

At the @britishacademy.bsky.social, we think access to social sciences, humanities and arts (Shape) courses matters and should be open to all. So we've created a tool to see changes in provision in what is the first of a new suite of mapping resources: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

(And read @ruairicullen.bsky.social’s analysis on Wonkhe here: wonkhe.com/blogs/there-...) 🎓

🚨 Are we seeing regional cold spots in social sciences, humanities & arts provision emerge across UK HE? 🚨 Today our team @britishacademy.bsky.social launches the first new mapping tool on our SHAPE Observatory. Our maps track changes in SHAPE subject provision in UK universities since 2011 🗺️ ⤵️

As @torstenbell.bsky.social has recently argued, the emergence of cold spots in university provision will disproportionately impact disadvantaged students. In the current context of mounting course closures, these maps help register especial areas of concern. 3/3