A lively week in Westminster although not much specifically for HE – the Spring Statement had a few good news stories for us, although it’s all provisional because of Brexit, and of course that is the real story of the week. In fact not much has changed, the end result of the votes is as… Read more »
Category / policy
This part of the blog features news and information about higher education policy and how BU’s research is influencing policy.
HE policy update for the w/e 8th March 2019
And it’s a bumper version this week, with a lot of really interesting new data, a super-critical TEF response from the Royal Statistical Society and we continue the speculation on fees and funding and Brexit. Mental Health Damian Hinds, Secretary of State, for education has launched a new taskforce to help students with the transition… Read more »
Nursing news – nursing degree apprenticeships: in poor health?
In December 2018 The Education Committee reviewed nursing degree apprenticeships and produced the report Nursing degree apprenticeships: in poor health? The Committee warned that the uptake of nursing degree apprenticeships has been too slow (only 30 started last year) and that the DfE won’t meet their target of 400 nursing associates progressing to degree apprenticeships from 2019…. Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 1st March 2019
It’s a big week for TEF and new guidance is out on access and participation. No real news on the post-18 review but it’s apparently coming “in the Spring”. Policy watchers will remember that these terms are flexible in government circles – optimists enjoying the recent sunshine and the daffodils will think Spring is upon… Read more »
BU contributes to International Conference in India.
This past weekend saw BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada, who is a Professor of International Public Health in the Public Health Institute at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), delivering the keynote speech in an International Conference on Mixed-Methods Research (ICMMR 2019). His presentation at the conference, held at the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala (India), was held on Saturday. The… Read more »
Get an insider’s view on how to influence policymakers in Parliament
If you would like your research to have a real impact on policy decisions at a national level, you may want to book onto Achieving Policy Impact in the UK Parliament – a special workshop run by Sarah Foxen of the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST), the UK parliament’s knowledge exchange unit. This event takes… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 15th February 2019
We expect that Philip Augar will publish the report of his independent panel shortly. The Panel is advising the Department for Education on the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding and the Augar report has been badged by the DfE as an “interim” report. Although the Augar report will no doubt grab headlines, after much… Read more »
Descent or dissent? Social work education in post-Brexit UK
Congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker on the publication of his article ‘Descent or dissent? A future of social work education in the UK post-Brexit‘ in the European Journal of Social Work. In true European style the journal also gives the title in Italian: Discesa o dissenso? Il futuro dell’istruzione nel settore dei servizi sociali nel… Read more »
HE Policy update for the w/e 8th February 2018
Brexit – UUK fights back on Erasmus UUK has launched a national campaign to encourage the UK government to commit to funding study abroad programmes in the event of a no-deal Brexit. #SupportStudyAbroad is in response to a technical note on the Erasmus+ programme issued by government on 28 January 2019. The government has said… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 1st February 2019
This week we bring you the latest on unconditional offers, Parliament give the nod to accelerated degree funding, the wonk-press frenzy in dissecting Chris Skidmore’s first formal speech, and a little on the B-word. Universities Minister speaks out Chris Skidmore gave his inaugural formal speech as Universities Minister on Thursday which set out his vision… Read more »
My Science – what the committee may investigate
The Science and Technology Committee heard suggestions for areas of inquiry that could be undertaken by the committee. Below are the ideas that were pitched to the Committee for further investigation.
HE policy update for the w/e 25th January 2019
We have made the policy update an almost Brexit-free zone this week. Of course we are all looking forward to the excitement on Tuesday, described by the Chancellor Philip Hammond, on radio 4 as not being “high noon” – we’ve got lots more to get through before we get to high noon, apparently. Brexit Keeping… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 17th January 2019
Post-18 review As we all look forward to the outcome of the Augar review in mid February, and speculation continues, Research Professional have an interview with Bill Rammell, VC at the University of Bedfordshire: “To cut the headline fee…would certainly hit universities hard but what that means is it would hit the student experience hard,”… Read more »
HE Policy update for the w/e 11th January 2019
Value for money (1) – cutting low value university courses A report by Onward published on 7th January sets out some ideas for addressing the concerns about high student loans: A question of degree – Why we should cut graduates’ taxes and pay for it by reducing the number of low value university courses. Not… Read more »
Parliamentary business of interest w/e 11 Jan 2019
Parliamentary items of interest this week include: Immersive entertainment How mental health services are failing the young and the mental health workforce crisis The use of AI in the education sector Immersive entertainment The Government has issued a press release on immersive entertainment: Innovate UK: UK takes centre stage in immersive entertainment revolution New projects… Read more »
HE Policy update for the w/e 4th January 2019
Happy New Year to all our readers! There was a flurry just before Christmas…some of that is here along with the first news of January Value for money To start the new year off on the right foot, as we await the Augur recommendations on the post-18 review, Wonkhe have some analysis of a recent… Read more »
UPDATED: HE Policy update for the w/e 21st December 2018
Grade Inflation New report on Grade inflation by the Office for Students The OfS report is here. The press release is here: The report has already been criticised for the obvious reason – it describes as “unexplained” all improvements in student degree outcomes that are not linked to prior attainment or student background. The UUK/QAA… Read more »
HE Policy update for the w/e 14th December 2018
A busy week in politics, and for policy too. Not looking any quieter as we approach the end of the year, either. We will do a short update next week because the ONS report on student loan accounting is due and there are likely to be interesting reflections on that through the week. Student loans… Read more »
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Call for EoIs: Unit of Assessment (UOA) Leader for UOA 17 to drive REF 2021 preparations- Discharged from hospital back to the streets – homeless and forgotten.
HE policy update for the w/e 15th March 2019
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The ACORN Fund is now open for applications!
- FM Food and Health research team awarded the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Seal of Excellence
- HE policy update for the w/e 15th March 2019
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- HE policy update for the w/e 1st March 2019
- HE Policy Update for the w/e 15th February 2019
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