David Kernohan
@dkernohan.bsky.social
📤 2024
📥 561
📝 481
Him off of @Wonkhe. Sky Cards Rare Master.
reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
about 6 hours ago
NEW on Wonkhe: A new consultation from UCAS offers the chance to comment on application limits, insurance acceptances, and the use of deadlines. David Kernohan is ready to fill the form in.
buff.ly/2HUKZb4
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Timely on a day where universities are asked to sign up to an MOD-backed organisation that doesn't appear to officially exist in order to access additional OfS funding...
add a skeleton here at some point
1 day ago
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Apropos of nothing I thought I would look up what the Oxon University Reform Society had scheduled this term. A Reform councillor, a Reform mayoral candidate, an anti-immigration campaigner, and a "critical friend" of Reform. You can almost taste the diverse opinions.
issuu.com/oxunireform....
2 days ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Jim Dickinson
3 days ago
Nothing is new about the free speech stuff
wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
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There are some ideas we welcome, there are some we don’t allow
We’re often told that “cancel culture” in universities is some kind of new phenomenon.
https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/there-are-some-ideas-we-welcome-there-are-some-we-dont-allow/
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Reform seems to reckon that some bits of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act that haven't been commenced apply to a university in Wales. And then threaten to put themselves in breach of Welsh statutes on institutional autonomy and academic freedom.
wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
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Was there a freedom of speech breach at Bangor?
A proper 2022-style freedom of speech on campus panic plays out
https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/was-there-a-freedom-of-speech-breach-at-bangor/
3 days ago
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A piece that I respectfully submit will make you drop your toast at least three times.
add a skeleton here at some point
5 days ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
9 days ago
NEW on Wonkhe: David Kernohan pulls out the key points from the Office for Students response to the judicial review of the processes that led to the decision to fine the University of Sussex
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
10 days ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Just visiting?
bit.ly/4q8OKjP
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A bunch of (audited, published) data points on provider finance as it was at the end of last August. Fresh out today - but do seek out actual financial statements/annual reports as well.
add a skeleton here at some point
11 days ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Jonathan Simons
12 days ago
I wrote about this 3 years ago when Biden was writing off loans - the political power of the younger adult cohort regardless of the theoretical policy merits of the case (and it’s not like other groups haven’t used their political power for some boondoggles before now)
wonkhe.com/blogs/the-po...
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The politics of a graduate loan write-off
Could Biden's student loan write-offs really be replicated in England? Jonathan Simons thinks through the politics and the likely pushback.
https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-politics-of-a-graduate-loan-write-off/
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
18 days ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson compares fifteen countries' approaches to international education and finds the UK lacks the frameworks, data, and infrastructure that competitors have developed
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
22 days ago
NEW on Wonkhe: The CMA publishes guidance on higher education collaborations
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Some more data.
add a skeleton here at some point
22 days ago
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Some data.
add a skeleton here at some point
22 days ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
25 days ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Three years on, TPS pensions are still very expensive for higher education
bit.ly/4pLA5uU
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It is my happy duty to tell you that "Shooting the Past", possibly the greatest ever drama about an independent business school being set up in London, is currently on iPlayer.
27 days ago
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Quick thread on the impact of the National Student Survey (NSS) on grade inflation. Students usually complete the NSS in their final year of study (between 7 Jan and 30 April this year). Students get their degree classification at the end of the summer term (May/June).
28 days ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Andrew McRae
28 days ago
This piece is predictably excellent, but still leaves one wondering why the OfSt is devoting considerable resources to this, especially when they know full well how it will be reported, and what damage that can do to the sector’s reputation. 4/4
wonkhe.com/blogs/the-gr...
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The grade inflation mutant algorithm, 2026
Grade inflation is falling, but OfS still thinks too many are getting good degrees. David Kernohan asks what it would take to know what is really going on
https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-grade-inflation-mutant-algorithm-2026/
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
28 days ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Grade inflation is falling, but OfS still thinks too many are getting good degrees. David Kernohan asks what it would take to know what is really going on
buff.ly/TaEnE8y
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
about 1 month ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Debbie McVitty thinks through the various options for responding to lines of questioning that question the legitimacy of particular HE courses
buff.ly/armyJT0
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
about 1 month ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Critiques of the value, validity, and political foundation of degree courses have been with us for generations. David Kernohan searches for the meanings behind "mickey mouse"
buff.ly/YvaqTvE
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
about 1 month ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Is Trinity Hall Cambridge really reversing access and participation efforts? David Kernohan looks in to the detail
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That Trinity Hall access story. Here's what is going on:
wonkhe.com/blogs/what-i...
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What is going on at Trinity Hall?
Is Trinity Hall Cambridge really reversing access and participation efforts? David Kernohan looks in to the detail
https://wonkhe.com/blogs/what-is-going-on-at-trinity-hall/
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
about 1 month ago
NEW on Wonkhe: What do the outcomes from COP30 mean for higher education? And what role do universities play in addressing and understanding the climate crisis? Simon Meacher finds hope in the work the sector is doing
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A very good read, unsurprisingly.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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The first of what will be a huge number of great reads from the WonkheSUs tour of Europe over the next week or so.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Worth getting on board with this one.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
about 1 month ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Which groups of students are struggling? It's all in the data, and DK has the TEF charts you need
buff.ly/Tm66idM
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Very good to see some honesty about methodology in this league table:
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
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Access Restricted
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/01/03/hundreds-of-mickey-mouse-courses-offered-by-uk-universities/
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Mike Ratcliffe
2 months ago
The end-of-year podcast is excellent (right to the very end). But again, we come back to the failings of franchising universities to protect the controlled reputational range of the sector in their deals with for-profit providers. Let it stop in 2026.
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So, that Centre for Social Justice thing that suggests that many graduates would be better off having done a higher apprenticeship. Turns out we are comparing a population of hundreds of thousands of graduates to a population of 1,810 L4 apprenticeships.
wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
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Why we need to treat statistics about higher apprentices five years on with caution
Another Sunday, another think tank all over the Sunday papers
https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/why-we-need-to-treat-statistics-about-higher-apprentices-five-years-on-with-caution/
2 months ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
2 months ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Posh? Exceeded your A level expectations? You are less likely to go to university
bit.ly/3MtZRWC
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www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-an...
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Susan Lapworth to leave the OfS at Easter 2026 - Office for Students
Susan Lapworth, the chief executive of the Office for Students (OfS), will leave the organisation at Easter 2026, the OfS has confirmed today.
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/press-and-media/susan-lapworth-to-leave-the-ofs-at-easter-2026/
2 months ago
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Pretty much what the article title says.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
2 months ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Steven Hill sets out what Research England has been up to during the REF 2029 pause
buff.ly/11zncPw
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
2 months ago
NEW on Wonkhe: There is another quality assurance system in England: it has little to do with outcomes metrics, and a lot to do with meeting immediate needs. David Kernohan lifts the lid.
buff.ly/isIq0kU
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Jim Dickinson
2 months ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Ticking boxes misses the point
bit.ly/3Mp9upo
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
2 months ago
NEW on Wonkhe: The external examiner system is respected, popular, and widespread. Vicki Stott asks how we can build on these strengths to improve the quality of provision further - across the UK and beyond
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
2 months ago
This week on Wonkhe: Seventeen years after its hopeful launch, Southend’s university campus is closing. Jim Dickinson examines what this tells us about the failure of place-based planning in UK higher education
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Whatever happened to the New Universities Challenge?
Seventeen years after its hopeful launch, Southend’s university campus is closing. Jim Dickinson examines what this tells us about the failure of place-based planning in UK higher education
https://buff.ly/iiV7wVe
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Big question for me on this is why has it taken OfS so long to open a formal investigation?
@manchestermill.bsky.social
made the allegations in March, and the police started their investigation in May and intensified it in July?
www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-an...
2 months ago
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Charts, innit?
wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
2 months ago
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Love this on part time work and creative graduates.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
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Hearing that EIS-ULA also failed to meet the statutory 50 per cent threshold. Writing up the results here:
wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
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UCU pay ballot fails to meet threshold
No industrial action expected from UCU on the 2025-26 New Jnches pay round
https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/ucu-pay-ballot-fails-to-meet-threshold/
2 months ago
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UCU ballot on industrial action over pay and pay-related: turnout 39%, meaning there will be no national industrial action on these issues by UCU. Still waiting for Unison and EIS-ULA results.
2 months ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
3 months ago
NEW on Wonkhe: The UK Standard Skills Classification is a new way to think about the connections between courses and jobs. David Kernohan loves a new coding framework
buff.ly/nVlSlHr
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
3 months ago
NEW on Wonkhe: How can you get a maintenance loan and not a fee loan?
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Here we go:
wonkhe.com/blogs/budget...
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Budget 2025 for universities and students
Team Wonkhe unpacks an unusually consequential Budget for higher education, as a complex mix of fee rises, international student levies, and stealth costs for graduates reshape the sector’s financial ...
https://wonkhe.com/blogs/budget-2025-for-universities-and-students/
3 months ago
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reposted by
David Kernohan
Wonkhe
3 months ago
NEW on Wonkhe: Ahead of an evidence paper and call for submissions, Minister for Further and Higher Education Vikki Howells sets out her understanding of the key challenges faced by higher education in Wales
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wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
:eyes:
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Are level 6 apprenticeships next?
Universities and employers are concerned enough about further defunding to write to ministers
https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/are-level-6-apprenticeships-next/
3 months ago
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Commons Education Committee seems to think that there is a provider at risk of collapse before the end of 2025. DfE and OfS disagree.
wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
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Government would protect interests of "students, taxpayers, and research" in provider insolvency
And the committee seems to think there is one on the way before 2026.
https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/government-would-protect-interests-of-students-taxpayers-and-research-in-provider-insolvency/
3 months ago
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