The Higher Education Show

Latest Episodes:

Protection, visas, commuter students Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

This week on the podcast OfS is introducing new protections for some students - but will they come fast enough and who will they apply to?

Plus a Lords committee says UK visa policy for scientists and researchers is an “act of national self-harm”, and we’ve launched a new article series on commuter students.

With Omar Khan, Chief Executive at TASO, Charlotte Corrish, Head of Public Policy at the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkh and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

This week on the podcast OfS is introducing new protections for some students - but will they come fast enough and who will they apply to? Plus a Lords committee says UK visa policy for scientists and researchers is an “act of national self-harm”, and we’ve launched a new article series on commuter students.

Fairness and protection for students is coming – but not for those that need it now

Shaping higher education for commuter students

Filling their boots? The rationale for growing loss-making home student numbers

Honesty and accuracy is about to get even more important

Flow - Official Trailer

OIA- Student transfers

Another way of thinking about the national assessment of people, culture, and environment

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Cuts, applications, campus climate Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

This week on the podcast as news of further redundancies sweeps the sector, we ask how bad things can get before the government will act or the public notice.

Plus UCAS end of cycle applications data has arrived, there’s a new report on the campus encampments, and there’s data futures news to get across.

With Alex Stanley, Vice President for Higher Education at the National Union of Students, Eve Alcock, Director of Public Affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency, James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

An early look at 2023–24 financial returns shows providers working hard to balance the books.

Lessons for leaders from the campus encampments.

UCAS End of Cycle provider data, 2024.

Data futures, reviewed.

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Funding, attendance, student hardship Jan 23, 2025

Show notes

This week on the podcast Minister of State for Skills Jacqui Smith helped launch a pamphlet on whether universities are “worth it” - and was notably cold on extra money. But does she mean outlay or eventual return to the Treasury?

Plus there’s changes afoot in Scotland, UKVI is cracking down on attendance for international students and students are still feeling the pinch financially - is a return to maintenance grants a lost possibility?

With Ben Vulliamy, Executive Director at the Association of Heads of University Administration, Dani Payne, Senior Researcher at the Social Market Foundation, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Jacqui Smith rules out (much) more money while her department assesses the impacts

The Scottish government wants its own post-study work offer

A new funding body landscape emerges in Scotland

UKVI is tightening the rules on international student attendance

Higher education should lift students out of poverty – not trap them within it

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Free speech, uni finances, regional inequality Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

This week on the podcast the government is to press on with implementing parts of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 while seeking to repeal others - we discuss what will (and should) happen next.

Plus there’s a report on more resilient and sustainable higher education finances, and NEON has been looking at regional inequality in university admissions.

With Richard Sykes, Partner at Mills & Reeve, Paul Greatrix, HE expert and until recently Registrar at the University of Nottingham, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

Bridget Phillipson reaffirms commitment to free speech

Resolving the tensions in campus culture requires leadership from within

Connect more: creating the conditions for a more resilient and sustainable HE sector in England

New NEON research shows widening regional inequalities in university admission for poorer students

Widening access needs more flexibility

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Visegrad special Jan 10, 2025

Show notes

This week on the podcast Jim, Mack and team are on a bus around the Visegrad countries where they’ve been exploring student experience, representation and rights, discounted dorms and a set of countries where students have been leading change.

Plus Disabled Students UK has its access insights survey out, and we discuss changes to the Renter's Rights Bill.

With Katie Jackson, Faculty of Humanities Officer at the University of Manchester SU, Seán Keaney, Academic Officer at University of Limerick Student Life, Gary Hughes, CEO at Durham SU, Mack Marshall, Community and Policy Officer at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

On Day -1 of this year’s magical mystery tour around Europe and students, the team come across plenty of protests for democracy, on Day 0 of the tour we find students in the centre of both the past and the future for Hungary, on Day 1 the team put down some roots and build some belonging at camp, on the second evening the team try to work out if they have enough points for a dorm in Slovakia, and on Day 2 the team get community building and pot roasting.

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Special: Writing for Wonkhe Dec 19, 2024

Show notes

In this special seasonal edition of the Wonkhe Show, we discuss how you can contribute to the higher education debate by writing for the site, the importance of communicating academic and professional insights to wider audiences, and we take you inside our editorial process - which is all about clear arguments and diverse perspectives.

With Adam Matthews, Senior Research Fellow at the School of Education at the University of Birmingham, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe.

Higher Education Policy into Practice (Online) PGCert

Writing for Wonkhe

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Students at work, transfers, spending review Dec 12, 2024

Show notes

This week on our final proper show before the break, we’ve published polling on students experience of earning while learning - is a return to “full time” study possible? Plus OfS has a new strategy, the OIA has some learning from complaints, and we look ahead to the 2025 spending review.

With Shahid Omer, Director of Policy at Universities UK, Diana Beech, Chief Executive Officer at London Higher, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, Mike Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar at City St George’s University of London, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. And keep an ear out over the break for a special edition of the show.

Latest from Belong – students are earning, but what are we learning?

Every student on every placement should be paid for their labour

The realities of student transfer

The OIA rides to the rescue on university restructures

Complex and insufficient – Scottish student income doesn’t match the expenditure

The Office for Students’ proposed new strategy for 2025–30

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OfS, international, Wales, Scotland Dec 05, 2024

Show notes

This week on the podcast there’s budget news from both Wales and Scotland - why are governments finding it so hard to stick to commitments on student financial support? Plus OfS has temporarily “closed” its register as the financial crisis intensifies, and Radio 4’s File on Four has been looking at international recruitment.

With Beccy Freeman, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) at University of Warwick, Jonathan Grant, Director at Different Angles, Livia Scott, Partnerships Coordinator at Wonkhe, Mike Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar at City St George’s University of London, and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

File on 4: The International Student Scandal

We need to look at representation ratios as well as awarding gaps

Hate to say we told you so

It’s time for a legislative response to student suicide

Another brutal budget in Scotland – for universities and students

Wales ditches Diamond and robs students to pay universities

OfS temporarily closes entry to the register

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Skills, PTES, transformation Nov 28, 2024

Show notes

This week on the podcast the government is to “get Britain working” - but what role will higher education play in the plans? Plus there are big divides between international and home students in this year’s PTES, and proposals for a transformation fund to help universities change what they do and how they work.

With Shane Chowen, Editor at FE Week, Roscoe Hastings, Director of Teaching Excellence and Enhancement at University of Exeter, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, MIke Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar at City St George’s University of London and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Getting Britain Working (except for students, as usual)

How skills, careers, and industrial policy fit together

A higher education transformation fund would catalyse university reform

Another year, another PTES

World Skills

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Financial sustainability, cold spots, student housing Nov 21, 2024

Show notes

This week on the podcast the sector’s financial woes continue - just how bad is it and are regulators on top of the problem? Plus there’s a new report out on subject cold spots, and student housing is back in the news.

With Gavan Conlon, leader of the Education and Labour Market teams at London Economics, Sally Burtonshaw, Director of the Education Practice at Public First, James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, Mike Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar at City St George’s University of London, and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

Do we need a league table of scholars produced by Silicon Valley?

There are cold spots in arts, humanities, and social sciences provision

Is it reasonable to expect higher education institutions to be more business-like?

Governing bodies need to prepare and plan now for a different future

VAT is not always the barrier to shared services that it is thought to be

Universities need a plan to manage future HE provision. So does the government

The regulator does not have a handle on the financial state of English higher education

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