NEW on Wonkhe: OfS has published board papers from December. Think partnership not punishment bit.ly/4sn1XIf

NEW on Wonkhe: Iran’s students are again at the centre of nationwide unrest bit.ly/4pozv6f

"University fees and migration numbers threaten Brexit reset youth deal"

"British uni urges end to exams because 'they favour white students'"

"UK accounting body to halt remote exams amid AI cheating"

"Priced out of education: the student housing crisis hitting the North East"

"Britain’s ‘godless’ university has become dogged by anti-Semitism"

"The universities where all students are given extra time in exams"

"Why are young people leaving Britain to work abroad?" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"UK universities extend careers advice to graduates in their 40s and 50s"

"UK to offer military gap year in effort to boost recruitment"

"The ‘decolonised’ essay alternatives dumbing down Britain’s universities"

Best of 2025: The discussions that took place aimed at balancing university fees and migration numbers showcased a renewed commitment to addressing youth issues post-Brexit, highlighting both challenges and opportunities that arose throughout the year.

Best of 2025: Prof Alice Sullivan claimed that the University of Bristol failed to protect her right to freedom of expression after a protest disrupted her gender lecture.

Best of 2025: The UK government launched a "gap year" scheme aimed at school and college leavers, providing a taste of military life in the Army, Royal Navy, or RAF without long-term commitment.

Best of 2025: Commuter students were everywhere, often engaged and invaluable, but largely invisible. Susan Kenyon and Mack Marshall reflected on the insights that emerged from the commuter students series and formed an agenda for supporting commuters.

Best of 2025: The five things universities did to cut costs, as outlined by David Kernohan, illustrated that despite the unique circumstances of each institution, financial challenges prompted similar strategies across the board.

Best of 2025: Young people in coastal and rural areas missed out on higher education. Graeme Atherton called for access work to reconnect with geography.

Best of 2025: Awarding gaps based on ethnicity were a concern in 2025, but the ways in which they were conceptualized, analyzed, and addressed proved to be far from perfect. Katharine Hubbard suggested a more nuanced approach.

Best of 2025: The Institute for Fiscal Studies answered the last government's question on earnings data in regulation, as David Kernohan provided insights into their findings.

Best of 2025: Debbie McVitty argued that successful governance needed to manage tensions between the academic and business ends of institutions.

Best of 2025: Teachers and parents in areas where fewer young people went to university agreed that the cost of study posed a huge problem. David Kernohan examined how widening participation worked under such conditions.

Best of 2025: The Innovation and Research Caucus assessed what drove FEC recovery rates down and revealed what could be done about it. Stephen Roper and Tim Vorley presented the findings.

Best of 2025: Jim Dickinson explored whether a better student academic experience was possible with fewer academic staff, showcasing how one university adapted to significant cuts in innovative ways.

Best of 2025: The student experience crossed a troubling threshold, as student numbers rose by 15.5 percent while their term time employment hours soared by an astonishing 79.6 percent.

Best of 2025: Brooke Storer-Church and Ben Vulliamy argued that the government needed to address the limitations of competitive pressures in the sector to secure the financial stability and long-term impact of higher education.

Best of 2025: Andrew Bolt argued that apprenticeships should have been viewed not as an alternative approach to university, but as a form of alt-uni, integrating academic study with structured employment.

Best of 2025: Sunday Blake argued that higher education providers needed a more inclusive and long-term approach to supporting students with social care experience beyond graduation.

Best of 2025: Gemma Ahearne showed how drawing on lived experience, playful pacing, and radical care kept students engaged and in the room.

Best of 2025: New research on regret explained why students made the wrong choices, as Jim Dickinson and Mack Marshall remained unconvinced that the benefits of hindsight had been realized.

Best of 2025: Susan Kenyon considered who commuter students were, what they needed, and why the sector should have cared.

Best of 2025: Universities served purposes beyond market demands. Jim Dickinson asked if the pendulum between planning and markets swung back - and what it meant to protect student interests.

Best of 2025: As half of universities admitted that they were considering slashing bursaries and hardship funds to make ends meet, Jim Dickinson dug into the problems of expecting them to fill the gaps in national student support.

Best of 2025: A national review found a raft of issues in how universities previously prevented and learned from student suicides, leading to evaluations of whether voluntary urges for change were ever sufficient.

Best of 2025: In World Autism Acceptance Month, Hannah Breslin and Jon Rowlands reflected on their experiences of sharing and adapting to their late autism diagnoses.

Best of 2025: A new DSIT report shed light on the connection between an unequal workforce and economic growth, revealing key insights from James Coe.

Best of 2025: Reporting on focus groups with students in Nottingham for the UPP Foundation's latest report, Will Yates found a new belt-tightening normal.

Best of 2025: Scotland's free fees policy faced mounting challenges as public support wavered and funding pressures intensified, highlighted in Hannah Garrow's insightful argument.

Best of 2025: Kulvinder Singh explored how vital the classroom was for commuter students' belonging in a context of increasing transactional approaches to education.

Best of 2025: The Department for Education (DfE) set out how it delivered on its promise to "raise the standards of teaching" in universities across England, as Jim Dickinson detailed the need for a thoughtful approach to funding and quality assurance in higher education.

Best of 2025: Months of student-led protests in Serbia reached a climax, as Jim Dickinson reviewed the significant roles played by both "official" and "unofficial" student representatives amid the growing political unrest and challenges faced by the country.

Best of 2025: Paul Ashwin argued that the Office for Students’ proposed strategy put government priorities into the mouths of students.

Best of 2025: Reflecting on a case heard by the European Court of Human Rights, Jim Dickinson wondered whether OfS had got its interpretation of "freedom of speech within the law" right.

Best of 2025: The discussion around improving the agility of UK research became a focal point, as Anton Muscatelli and Miles Padgett analyzed its implications and identified the barriers that stood in the way.

Best of 2025: Molly Pemberton reflected on how active student citizens successfully lobbied for improved transport for commuter students.

Best of 2025: Students reflected on whether they had pursued rankings or combed through NSS spreadsheets when choosing universities, as Emmanouil Noikokyris and Emanuela Nova listened to and learned from the experiences of applicants.

Best of 2025: The government quietly revised its definition of a duty of care in universities, as Bob Abrahart argued it needed more clarity.

NEW on Wonkhe: As Serbia's student-led protest movement clears its first anniversary, Jim Dickinson reflects on a year of blockades, sonic weapons, and a new grammar of protest that defies easy categorisation buff.ly/K45NM6b

Best of 2025: As universities were urged to provide support to struggling students, Jim Dickinson reviewed the evidence and found that the system of rapid graduate production had a key potential role in causing pressure and harm.

Best of 2025: As the Office for Students published its investigation into a private provider that collapsed, the OIA's Charlotte Corrish raised questions about the protections for students when the student loans tap was turned off.