Wonkhe

NEW on Wonkhe: Concern that affected no students resolved to OfS’ satisfaction https://lnkd.in/emBamm-t

New on Wonkhe: Under new pressures, universities are being bold with new transformative plans. Andrea Marshall and Julia Ascott remind us that many of these plans may have unexpected tax implications https://lnkd.in/e9VDCuDi "Your tax (and legal!) teams are eager to play their role in supporting new sector initiatives, and helping their institutions navigate the current crisis. They want to be enabling partners, and not blockers. They know that the tax tail should not wag the dog, but at the same time it’s obviously important for the dog to know it has a tail."

New on Wonkhe: Independent HE has faced issues with registration and degree awarding powers processes for years. For Alex Proudfoot, the OfS decision to pause this statutory activity is the latest in a long line of mistakes https://lnkd.in/eUxJx6UM "The decision to suspend registration and DAPs processes until late in 2025 is a clear enough dereliction of their statutory duty. But to extend this to providers already in the process, effectively backdating this decision to the spring of 2024, is completely unjustifiable."

New on Wonkhe: Emma Roberts sets out three legal reforms that could transform the way universities learn from and prevent death by suicide amongst students https://lnkd.in/eP6-ZKas "Action is needed now. The proposed reforms must become more than abstract ideas – they must be enshrined in legislation so that we can begin to stem the tide of preventable student suicides. Only through comprehensive legal reform can we create a safer, more supportive environment for all students, ensuring that no student slips through the cracks."

NEW on Wonkhe: OfS temporarily closes entry to the register https://lnkd.in/eFbVZq6D

New on Wonkhe: The age of a university is often used as a proxy for quality. David Kernohan learns from crustaceans that history can be misleading https://lnkd.in/eH5qRR-v "Any seat of higher learning, it would seem, eventually becomes a university. The various routes that get it there are interesting in a kind of genealogical way, but largely irrelevant in 2024 unless there is also a meaningful difference in what students or staff might experience in working there. And many of these tangible differences have as much to do with simply being there longer."

New on Wonkhe: Without using groups of universities, making sense of how policymaking affects the sector is very difficult. Richard Puttock urges to be pragmatic about types of higher education provider https://lnkd.in/eU8eNtdK "The sector is too broad to be considered as whole and too large to be considered one provider at a time so we need a sector accepted typology for providers. Whether that typology should include tariff or selectivity is a point we can debate, but I suspect one of these measures would make the cut."

New on Wonkhe: Applicants tend not to use data in making university decisions. But, as Phil Richards argues, high quality data supports an accurate picture of the type of experience they may expect https://lnkd.in/ejiyAmmJ "Although relatively few university applicants may refer directly to the Discover Uni web site, that data plays a fundamental role, in ensuring a firm and level data foundation on which the narrative, culture and nuance around UK university admissions is built."

New on Wonkhe: David Kernohan guides you through a little-understood dataset that highlights some glaring problems with the way we support students and fund higher education https://lnkd.in/e86PQyKv "Are more traditional postgraduate providers stepping away from the non-scholarship UK postgraduate market? Are other providers offering innovative opportunities or capitalising on unmet demand? We don’t have the answers in this data, but I hope someone at OfS has an answer."

New on Wonkhe: This week’s card from Hugh Jones’ postbag tells of a Victorian educator and a lovely part of the world https://lnkd.in/eADVdQ3A "The college eventually came under the control of the local education authority. In the 1990s it became a college of Lancaster University. In 1996 – apparently following a poor Ofsted report – it was merged with St Martin’s College, another constituent of Lancaster University. And, in 2007, St Martin’s College became part of the new University of Cumbria."