· #AcademicSky · #EduSky · #HigherEd · “One in 12 UK-based undergraduates starting a full-time degree has no formal qualifications, rising to more than half in some universities, FT analysis of official data shows.”

The wrong decision. The grant for high-cost subjects should be going up, not down. In Tarnished Towers, we called for grant funding to be increased by £350m - and then to go up by CPI+5% every year for five years.

Really powerful poll. At least 2:1 in favour of supporting Ukraine - even if it costs us - in every voting segment.

I see that @igmansfield.bsky.social and colleagues have had their policy weetabix this morning - a mere 40 recommendations in their report on the future of HE. It covers *a lot* of ground, with a strong push against marketisation and expansion. policyexchange.org.uk/publication/...

Some thoughts on the "Tarnished Towers" report on higher education. Lots of discourse here on the expansion point and call to cut places by 30%. But what about the failed ideology of "marketisation"? HE isn't a "market". We should never have pretended it was www.newstatesman.com/politics/edu...

Student numbers at UK universities should be reduced 30 per cent, with cuts targeted at institutions whose graduates go on to earn the least and those with the highest dropout rates, says Policy Exchange report www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cut-uni... via @helenpacker.bsky.social

I could go with this. The criterion 'algorithmically selects which content to put in front of a user' is simple, hard (impossible?) to game, targets a major problem and carries no censorship risk.

If the government is committed to the ban, those workarounds will become harder & harder, & the societal expectation will change too, pushing the U16s off. Like your older-looking mate who could buy booze at 16 with fake ID, only a few will get past the ban.

I've always said I'm 'not into poetry.' But turns out tht once I had kids, there were more than a few I wanted to share with them. From the Jumblies to Lepanto, from the Destruction of Sennacherib to Tarantella, here are twenty I keep returning to. open.substack.com/pub/edrith/p...

Spent the day in parts of Ashton and Orrell where Labour canvassers are targeting the 16% of undecided voters in Makerfield by-election. A few observations (from a single day) I found surprising - A lot of people who voted Reform just weeks ago say they are prepared to vote for Burnham

Twenty poems with which to start your week. www.edrith.co.uk/p/poems-to-r...

Twenty poems with which to start your week. www.edrith.co.uk/p/poems-to-r...

Though all these lists are a bit arbitrary, the readers' one is much better than the critics'. Much broader recognition of great books from varied genres and time periods - including 19th century literature, but without it being the overwhelming focus. www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...

It doesn't really matter though. 70%+ of voters wouldn't vote for Farage; it's the 25-30% that would who are the problem. And that is again reflected here. Definite win for Badenoch though.

Is £20 million a lot? How about £20 billion? How many schools are there, anyway? How many houses do we build a year? Is £15 an hour a high wage? 50 facts with which to make sense of Britain. open.substack.com/pub/edrith/p...

Is £20 million a lot? How about £20 billion? How many schools are there, anyway? How many houses do we build a year? Is £15 an hour a high wage? 50 facts with which to make sense of Britain. open.substack.com/pub/edrith/p...

Excellent review of UK tax situation To the surprise of nobody, there are painful choices ahead: more tax for everyone not just 'the rich' or spending cuts. If you don't understand this, read the thread. Don't say 'tax billionaires' because that's wishful BS

Good news!

Powerful piece by Rachel Cunliffe.

Calling all policy wonks! What are the core facts you need to know? Here are 50 of them: economy, demographics, public services and more. open.substack.com/pub/edrith/p...

Calling all policy wonks! What are the core facts you need to know? Here are 50 of them: economy, demographics, public services and more. open.substack.com/pub/edrith/p...

Wow! I’m rather proud of this.

Clear trend now - Reform gaining again, Greens falling back. Though they remain respectively below and above where they were six month months ago. Three legacy parties basically flat.

Do you hear a new Government announcement and wonder, 'Is that a lot?' Enjoy the news but get frustrated when things are presented out of context? Here are 50 facts to help put things in perspective. www.edrith.co.uk/p/50-facts-w...

Dive! Dive! Dive!

Do you hear a new Government announcement and wonder, 'Is that a lot?' Enjoy the news but get frustrated when things are presented out of context? Here are 50 facts to help put things in perspective. www.edrith.co.uk/p/50-facts-w...

This is going to be so awesome.

Not often I disagree with @stephenkb.bsky.social. But his suggestion that the Nowak case is an isolated case of 'the word of two people at the scene against the word of one' badly misses the mark. We cannot overlook the context of 'antiracism' in which this takes place. www.ft.com/content/aa94...

How can the Prime Minister claim there is no two-tier policing when the documents under which the police operate explicitly say they should treat different ethnicities differently? He can't defend it - so denies it is happening. Just gaslighting us.

"Leading a fractious and fragmenting Labour party in Westminster, seemingly opposed to any controversial reforms — will be a world away from his enviable position in Manchester." Great piece by new colleague - and former Mancunian - Byron Evans. thecritic.co.uk/westminster-...

Utterly grim: taxes go up, spending goes up even more. We're borrowing over £2000 a year for every man, woman and child in the UK - and spending three quarters of that on debt interest. www.thetimes.com/business/eco...

Excellent piece by @KemiBadenoch. The Nowak case must mark a turning point. An end to 'race concious' approaches, Kendi-ism and 'positive' action within the public sector - and a return to non-discrimination, colour-blindness and equality before the law. www.dailymail.com/news/article...

Regardless of one’s view on the underlying issue, I’m not sure “be quiet ladies, get back to your sewing” is a particularly progressive argument to make.

Abolish the Masters loan - a ten year failed experiment in stoking credentialism and increasing debt.

Striking changes in British Social Attitudes polling on attitudes to higher education. The proportion of people who believe a degree is not worth the time and money has grown from 14% in 2005 to 34% in 2025. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

My immediate concern about a Ukrainian turn to a ceasefire without any conditions is that it would allow Russia to export oil at inflated prices, but - since the war was over - might *reduce* the cash flowing into Ukraine, enabling Putin to reconstitute for 'round 3' more quickly.

If you could trade away one thing you're good at to be as good, but no better, at another thing, would you, and for what?

Titillating it may be, but I fail to see how it supports good governance to be repeatedly publishing Cabinet Ministers' private correspondence. Just more political noise that distracts from serving the country's problems.

The practical effect will be more deleted WhatsApps and other forms of untraceable communication.

Titillating it may be, but I fail to see how it supports good governance to be repeatedly publishing Cabinet Ministers' private correspondence. Just more political noise that distracts from serving the country's problems.

The numbers are still way too low for them to affiliate to Reform. But General Secretaries standing - and winning - in these unions on a platform of non-affiliation seems highly possible, and would really shake up the political landscape. www.thetimes.com/article/99f5...

By removing full, non-means-tested, scholarships - and jacking up fees - private schools made themselves irrelevant to many of their former clientele. The exclusive focus on bursaries lost those who might have supported them - while winning them no new friends. www.edrith.co.uk/p/why-privat...

My stance on 'We should lower entry grades for some students; exams don't fully reflect potential and background' is similar to that on the proposition 'politicians should be able to award public contracts without objective criteria, as these can't capture all relevant factors'.

People who I WhatsApp / email regularly should be forbidden from having the same first name. And when the surname also begins with the same letter, that's just inexcusable.

By removing full, non-means-tested, scholarships - and jacking up fees - private schools made themselves irrelevant to many of their former clientele. The exclusive focus on bursaries lost those who might have supported them - while winning them no new friends. www.edrith.co.uk/p/why-privat...

Great polling and analysis. (Even where I disagree with some of the policy solutions, they make political sense for Labour).

Good piece by Oliver Johnson on some of Google's recent decisions - and AI more broadly. bristoliver.substack.com/p/the-search...

I'm number 47 'Rising' in World Politics - go me! Check it out - link in post below.

Politically, Labour's pledge to put VAT on private schools was one of its most effective. Simple, value-laden and wildly popular - even with many who'd vote Tory. But why did private schools lose the middle classes - and how might they win them back? www.edrith.co.uk/p/why-privat...

Hilarious the dog-piling I'm getting on X for this post. A lot of people getting very angry about the (true!) observation that the VAT policy was popular. And evidently any analysis as to why this was, beyond 'Labour is evil and hates children' is somehow a 'betrayal' of private schools.