The Higher Education Show

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Fair treatment, weekend delivery, Iceland Apr 16, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast we're in Reykjavik as the Office for Students (OfS) opens a consultation on a whole new approach to student protection – but with students already struggling to understand or use their rights, will a new regulatory condition actually change anything on the ground?

Plus more than twenty thousand weekend students have been told to pay back maintenance loans they were given in error, and what can UK higher education learn from a week in Iceland?

With Lisa Margaret Gunnarsdóttir, President of the National Union of Icelandic Students, Gary Hughes, Chief Executive at Durham Students' Union, Mack Marshall, Community and Policy Officer at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Treating students fairly, on an ongoing basis

The weekend delivery scandal

SUs study tour to Iceland

Groupwork, management apprenticeships, immigration Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast an Australian politician has called on universities to scrap group assignments entirely, arguing they're unfair and cheapen degrees – but is the real problem the concept itself, or is it poorly designed groupwork that's giving collaboration a bad name?

Plus the government axes popular management apprenticeships, and UKVI's draft proposals for rating international student sponsors go further than many expected.

With Mark Peace, Professor of Innovation in Education at King's College London, Hugh Jones, independent consultant, and Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

Group essays? Pull the other one

A blanket removal of funding for level 7 apprenticeships will damage government plans to boost infrastructure

Amber isn’t a buffer zone in the new international RAG system – it’s a ledge

Secret life of students/AI special Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast recorded live at The Secret Life of Students, new Wonkhe research has found that nearly half of students worry their grades don't reflect what they actually know – so what does that tell us about how students are making decisions around AI use, and what does it mean for assessment in higher education?

Plus highlights from sessions across the conference, and a tuition fees row that threatens to derail the government's Brexit reset – with the EU pushing for home fee rates for students arriving under a new youth mobility deal.

With Helen King, Director of Learning Innovation, Development and Skills at Bath Spa University, Rosie Birch, Communities Officer at Brighton Students' Union and John Blake, Director at The Post-18 Project, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

An accountability moment is what makes AI work for learning

A tuition fees row could sink the UK’s Brexit reset

Immigration brake, social cohesion, research capital Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast the Home Office has announced an "emergency brake" on student visas from four countries, suspending all grants to applicants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan. What does it mean for affected students, and what happens to Chevening scholars caught in the middle?

Plus the government's new social cohesion strategy and what it means for universities, and Research England's plans for research capital investment funding.

With Lisa Roberts, President and Vice Chancellor at the University of Exeter, Jess Lister, Director of Education at Public First, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor in Chief at Wonkhe.

What the government’s Social Cohesion Action Plan means for universities and students

Research Capital Investment Fund cuts ahead

The “visa brake” details

Student visa restrictions for four countries

Renting, TNE, disability Mar 05, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast students are still struggling with the cost and quality of renting – so will the new Renters' Rights Act actually make things better, or could it leave fewer properties available?

Plus, is transnational education a genuine strategic opportunity or just a quick fix? And the Office for Students announces a new statement of expectations on disability support.

With Chris Husbands, Director at Higher Futures, Helena Vine, Lead Policy Officer for England at the Quality Assurance Agency, Livia Scott, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Students are worried about finding somewhere to live

TNE can be successful when it’s taken on as a strategic agenda, not a quick fix

TNE presents a quality challenge. Here’s how we solve it

International recruitment and TNE are not a straight swap

The international education strategy should promote quality in its TNE objectives as well as export earnings

When TNE goes wrong, it’s students that suffer

TNE on Wonkhe

Preparing for disability regulation shouldn’t mean waiting for disability regulation

Building public connection with research is about more than good communication

OfS announces a set of expectations on disability adjustments and support

Student finance, graduate premium, mental health Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast the government has struggled to defend its position on Plan 2 student loans in a Westminster Hall debate as opposition parties offer competing sticking plasters – but can any of the proposals survive contact with the maths, and is a proper funding review now inevitable?

Plus there’s cross-national evidence that suggests Britain's shrinking graduate premium is a demand-side problem that cutting courses won't fix, and a new study that finds student mental health services are bigger than ever but the students who need them most can't afford to reach them.

With Mary Curnock Cook CBE, independent educationalist and former Chief Executive of UCAS, Martin Priestley, Head of Education at Mills and Reeve, David Kernohan, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor in Chief at Wonkhe.

If the graduate premium is falling, supply-side tinkering won’t bring it back.

Student loan reform is coming. But not without a proper review.

The support paradox is a poverty problem.

Student group claim, PRES, high streets Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast UCL has settled with the Student Group Claim over pandemic-era teaching disruptions – but with 36 more universities now facing legal action from over 170,000 potential claimants, what does this mean for the sector?

Plus the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) results are out, and we discuss the potential role of universities in arresting the decline of the high street.

With Rachel Brooks, Professor of Higher Education at University of Oxford, James Dunphy, Chief Executive at Committee of University Chairs, James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Who calls the shots when resolving students’ complaints?

The student group claim settles out of court

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey, 2025

Universities have a responsibility for the high street too

MI5, Labour, free speech Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast MI5 has warned universities that UK higher education has become a "prime target for foreign states and hostile actors" – so what are the risks and how should the sector respond to growing concerns about security and defence?

Plus what a potential Labour leadership change could mean for higher education, and Reform's threat to withhold funding from Welsh universities over free speech.

With Paul Kett, Group CEO and Vice Chancellor at London South Bank University, Ben Vulliamy, Executive Director at the Association of Heads of University Administration, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

Intelligence agencies provide briefings on foreign interference

Jacqui Smith’s secret service

Was there a freedom of speech breach at Bangor?

Student loans, research funding, Wales Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast student finance has exploded into the headlines – but is the English student loan system really doomed? Backbench Labour MPs are pressing the chancellor to act, polling has revealed widespread antipathy for above-inflation interest rates, and Rachel Reeves has clashed with Martin Lewis over the freeze to repayment thresholds.

Now former OfS access tsar John Blake has launched The Post-18 Project, our Wonkhe think tank, by arguing that a review of higher education funding is unavoidable and that a graduate tax should be one of the options. So is the government going to act, or will it be bounced into action?

Plus UKRI has found itself in a perfect comms storm over the future of curiosity-driven research funding, and Michael Salmon sits down with Welsh minister Vikki Howells to discuss the challenges facing tertiary education.

With Ben Ward, CEO at University of Manchester Students' Union, Smita Jamdar, Partner and Head of Education at Shakespeare Martineau, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe, Vikki Howells, Minister for Further and Higher Education in the Senedd and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

The Post-18 Project: A review of higher education funding is inevitable

Five challenges faced by the Welsh tertiary sector

Maybe a graduate tax wasn’t such a bad idea after all

Welsh higher education is running out of wriggle room

Wales refuses to implement Westminster’s stealth graduate tax raid

Who should pay for our failing student loan system?

Demand, Disabled students, medicine Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

This week on the podcast we examine what a rise in UK university applicants really tells us about the future demand for higher education.

With UCAS reporting a 4.8 per cent increase in applications at the January deadline, driven largely by a demographic peak in 18-year-olds, we explore whether this represents a genuine resurgence in demand or a temporary population effect.

Plus we discuss new evidence on disabled students’ experiences in higher education, including concerns that pandemic-era accessibility is being rolled back, and the implications of the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill — from pressure on NHS training places to uncertainty for students studying medicine abroad through UK-linked programmes.

And Jim Dickinson is is in Canada with Wonkhe's Editor Debbie McVitty taking to Canadian HE expert Alex Usher.

With Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief, Wonkhe, Alex Stanley, Vice President for Higher Education at the National Union of Students, Dani Payne, Head of Education and Social Mobility at the Social Market Foundation, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief, Wonkhe.

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