Spill The News

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As scholars, we are often taught by our teachers, colleagues, and disciplinary canons to believe that our field’s methods are best suited to answer our questions. But how can we truly be confident of this if we do not know, or dare to…

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ECA, which is shifting towards global campus delivery models as it enters its third decade in international education, will support Birkbeck’s India campus operations as the institute looks to “provide students direct exposure to…

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This week’s card from Hugh Jones’ postbag cooks up a treat!

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Entrepreneurship education is of increasing importance, yet Aleksandra Bavdaz and Rami Al-Sharif have noticed that gendered expectations in the classroom still shape who sees themselves as a future entrepreneur

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Faced with a cost-of-living crisis more students in England are attending university courses hungry. Reporting on new findings, Emma Wainwright and Ellen McHugh reveal the scale of this issue and … Continued The post On-campus food poverty…

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Birkbeck, a member institution of the University of London, has received a Letter of Intent (LoI) from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to open its first overseas campus at Sattva Tech Park, a major technology hub in Bengaluru. The…

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This blog was kindly authored by Naimatullah Zafary, PhD, Chevening Alumnus and University of Sussex Alumnus. On 24 August 2021, I landed in the UK as a Chevening Scholar. The world was watching the collapse of Kabul, and I was arriving at…

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The universities have condemned the ‘abrupt’ decision to make students repay maintenance loans

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As OfS tells ethics committees to rein themselves in and prioritise academic freedom, Joe Mintz makes the case that values can't be wished away – they have to be argued over in public

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This blog was kindly authored by Naimatullah Zafary, PhD, Chevening Alumnus and University of Sussex Alumnus. On 24 August 2021, I landed in the UK as a Chevening Scholar. The world was watching the collapse of Kabul, and I was arriving at…

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A new ongoing condition of registration gives a familiar refresh to ongoing registration conditions on consumer protections. David Kernohan has the detail

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About 22,000 students in England were told they were given loans by mistake and must immediately pay the money back.

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For Jo Irving-Walton, generative AI use is just one angle in a wider dopamine problem in higher education

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Kashan Pirzada explains how leadership systems which prioritise immediate and countable outputs may generate short-term activity without longer-term impact

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About 22,000 students in England were told they were given loans by mistake and must immediately pay the money back.

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The UK government has expanded its regulatory oversight for British institutions’ engagement with education agents. The existing structure for student visas in the UK provides an important backdrop for these changes. In brief, to sponsor a…

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Coventry University reported Navodya De Silva, 25, to Home Office after £8,000 arrived late, causing termination of visa A Sri Lankan university student says her life has been ruined because a one-day delay in paying her tuition fees led…

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Jane Robinson breaks down the barriers between global ambitions and civic responsibility in growing the UK's economy

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Jane Robinson breaks down the barriers between global ambitions and civic responsibility in growing the UK's economy

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Coventry University reported Navodya De Silva, 25, to Home Office after £8,000 arrived late, causing termination of visa A Sri Lankan university student says her life has been ruined because a one-day delay in paying her tuition fees led…

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In one UK university, researchers are studying how bats support ecosystems while also helping protect the Grenada Dove, Leptotila wellsi , one of the world’s most endangered birds. Then there are students who go on to land dream jobs such…

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This blog was kindly authored by Professor Harriet Dunbar-Morris, Professor of Higher Education, Visiting Fellow at Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford . As the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) moves closer to implementation,…

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Jane Robinson breaks down the barriers between global ambitions and civic responsibility in growing the UK's economy

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Chancellor ‘frustrated and angry’ at the effect on UK firms and families and says US went into war without a clear exit plan Q: Why are you calling for an inquiry into Nigel Farage’s investment in a bitcoin firm ? Davey said that, in…

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This blog was kindly authored by Lan Murdock, Senior Communications Manager, Taylor & Francis. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the research landscape, offering tools to analyse massive datasets, uncover patterns and simplify…

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Joanne Caldwell argues that the sector can no longer afford to ignore the enormous contribution that professional services staff can make to doctoral education

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Jakob Feldfos Christensen asks what your equality, diversity, and inclusion approaches need in an increasingly complex and unstable world

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HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, reviews Bullyocracy: How the Social Hierarchy Enables Bullies to Rule Schools, Work Places and Society at Large (2020) by Donald Jeffries . The uncomfortable truths in Bullyocracy , a lengthy book about…

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Stepped student loan repayments sound progressive. Jim Dickinson argues they distract from an accounting structure that structurally rewards chancellors for squeezing graduates and hides the lack of public subsidy

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Keeping systems and buildings in working order takes investment and time. For AUDE's Syd Cottle both are in worryingly short supply

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New research by London Economics has found that following various changes to student loan terms, implemented since early 2022, the Treasury are making a surplus of £679 million for the 2022/23 cohort of undergraduate student entrants in…

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New research by London Economics has found that following various changes to student loan terms, implemented since early 2022, the Treasury are making a surplus of £679 million for the 2022/23 cohort of undergraduate student entrants in…

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This blog was kindly authored by Jane Embley, Chief People Officer and Tom Lawson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, both of Northumbria University. For over a year, Northumbria University has been grappling with a structural challenge…

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This blog was kindly authored by Martin Blakey, a commentator and advisor on student living and housing and formerly Chief Executive of the student housing charity Unipol. 2025-26 has been a difficult year for all student accommodation…

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This blog was kindly authored by Martin Blakey, a commentator and advisor on student living and housing and formerly Chief Executive of the student housing charity Unipol. 2025-26 has been a difficult year for all student accommodation…

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This blog was kindly authored by Professor Michael Mainelli, Chairman, Z/Yen Group and Chair of the Chartered ABS International Students Taskforce. Study roam The UK has long been a premier destination for international students – but as…

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This blog was kindly authored by Professor Michael Mainelli, Chairman, Z/Yen Group and Chair of the Chartered ABS International Students Taskforce. Study roam The UK has long been a premier destination for international students – but as…

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This blog was kindly authored by Somayeh Aghnia, Cofounder, London School of Innovation. The conversation about AI often moves too fast. Faster models. Faster outputs. Faster decisions. And universities, institutions built to move through…

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There has been a growing debate around the repayment terms of Plan 2 student loans in England.

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Culture isn't about economic growth but sometimes it is economic arguments that secure its future. James Coe squares this very big circle

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This blog was kindly authored by Somayeh Aghnia, Cofounder, London School of Innovation. The conversation about AI often moves too fast. Faster models. Faster outputs. Faster decisions. And universities, institutions built to move through…

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A new HEPI Debate Paper warns that rising financial pressures are pushing some universities into increasingly risky behaviour, with consequences not just for individual institutions, but for the stability and reputation of the sector as a…

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Col. Jeremy Hansen is making history on the Artemis II mission as first Canadian to fly around the moon. But beneath the surface of the intrepid military man lies an exceptional academic background, deeply rooted in physics and space…

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With "close to home" now the fourth most important factor in university choice, Mack Marshall and Jim Dickinson argue that DfT's failure to recognise students as a transport user group is becoming an access and participation problem

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Exams are everything in the compulsory sector, but higher education is moving towards authentic assessment. Gianina Harvey-Brewin asks why we can't be consistent

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The cap on Plan 2 and postgraduate loan interest rates comes amid a risk of rising inflation.

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Universities in Britain rely on overseas applicants paying full fees, which has given rise to some unscrupulous recruiters and left many hopefuls and their families deep in debt When Sam started looking into studying abroad, it didn’t take…

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The cap on Plan 2 and postgraduate loan interest rates comes amid a risk of rising inflation.

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by Kevin Andrews Digital accessibility in higher education is often discussed as a compliance requirement. Universities are expected to meet legal duties, publish accessibility statements, and make reasonable adjustments when barriers…

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Spaces designed specifically for students from widening participation backgrounds offer a scalable way to build the social capital that traditional support structures struggle to provide. Amara Anyogu and Emmanuel Adukwu explain

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Philanthropy increases the gap dividing highly selective, elite higher education from the rest. Ministers need a plan for the sector overall About 2% of UK universities’ income came from donations and endowments in 2024-25 – slightly less…

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Philanthropy increases the gap dividing highly selective, elite higher education from the rest. Ministers need a plan for the sector overall About 2% of UK universities’ income came from donations and endowments in 2024-25 – slightly less…

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James Coe has been on his travels and has lessons from Serbia on the future of UK research

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James Coe has been on his travels and has lessons from Serbia on the future of UK research

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James Coe has been on his travels and has lessons from Serbia on the future of UK research

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by Saeed Talebi and Nick Morton A peer reviewer recently challenged our pedagogical approach. We had described embedding an industry-led research project on Digital Twin development into our built environment curriculum as…

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Essays used to be a prompt for dialogue, but more recently that conversation has been stripped away. Nigel Francis, David Smith, Kevin Campbell-Karn and Steve Rutherford reflect on how student generative AI use has surfaced a deeper problem

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A report found a correlation between EDI spending and free speech compliance failures that controls for institution size. William Mackesy argues the findings deserve scrutiny, not dismissal

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Rita Gardner stresses the benefits of deeper embedding of robust social science evidence and methodologies in the world of government policy

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With universities treating free speech as a compliance problem, Peter McColl argues the sector is missing a chance to improve the culture of debate itself

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Hedge fund founder Chris Rokos said he wanted to "give something back" to the UK with the donation.

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by Nilakshi Das Transnational Education (TNE) represents a rapidly expanding form of cross-border provision, underpinned by an economic imaginary that positions the UK as a ‘key player’ in the global higher education market. While earlier…

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Hedge fund founder Chris Rokos said he wanted to "give something back" to the UK with the donation.

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by Nilakshi Das Transnational Education (TNE) represents a rapidly expanding form of cross-border provision, underpinned by an economic imaginary that positions the UK as a ‘key player’ in the global higher education market. While earlier…

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Setting up new international partnerships can sound like an easy win. But for Joe Lyons, where there’s little at stake we should expect little in return

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Danny Clegg argues that equality impact assessments must shift from records of compliance to tools for co-production and foresight

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The public critique of higher education governance is making some boards anxious. Poppy Short, Matthew Howling, Richard Sykes and Debbie McVitty work through what can reasonably be expected from governors when sustainability is on the line

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The plate glass universities were founded on intimacy, radicalism and community. Adam Wright asks whether an obsession with growth has made those promises impossible to keep

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Media stories about foundation years, entry qualifications and weekend delivery all lead back to the same place. Jim Dickinson follows the data

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Jim Dickinson finds that disadvantaged students use AI as a production shortcut while their better-off peers treat it as a learning tool – and that the hidden curriculum explains why

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Jim Dickinson unpacks the fallout from a DfE crackdown on weekend course misclassification – and finds students caught between forced repayment, forced delivery changes, and a system that is unlikely to accept blame

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Jim Dickinson unpacks the fallout from a DfE crackdown on weekend course misclassification – and finds students caught between forced repayment, forced delivery changes, and a system that is unlikely to accept blame

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Jim Dickinson unpacks the fallout from a DfE crackdown on weekend course misclassification – and finds students caught between forced repayment, forced delivery changes, and a system that is unlikely to accept blame

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by Eleni Meletiadou The blog is based on the recent outputs from our COST ACTION CA20137 VOICES project entitled: ‘Lived Experiences of Neurodiverse Academics and Early Career Researchers in Higher Education: Identifying Structural…

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With placement students routinely clocking 75-hour weeks across study, unpaid work and paid employment, Mary Lawler, Adrian Wright, Mark Wilding and Martin Lowe argue the system needs safeguards it currently lacks

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Brianah Carter and Kathleen M. Quinlan find that the everyday labour of navigating predominantly white spaces shapes how Black British students see themselves – and their education

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The Webometrics ranking of universities provides a valuable and more comprehensive open data alternative to traditional university rankings. However, as Vladimir M. Moskovkin shows mirror sites and an emergent market … Continued The post…

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24 March 2026 By Sandra Leaton Gray, Rita Chawla-Duggan (Bath University) and David Scott Talk of race in education often swings between two unsatisfactory positions. One treats racial categories as straightforward descriptions of human…

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24 March 2026 By Sandra Leaton Gray, Rita Chawla-Duggan (Bath University) and David Scott Talk of race in education often swings between two unsatisfactory positions. One treats racial categories as straightforward descriptions of human…

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by Joanne Irving-Walton What AI absorbs and why that matters Most debates about generative AI in higher education fixate on what it produces: essays, summaries, answers, paraphrases. I find myself increasingly interested in something else…

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by Amrik Singh and Joy Garfield In a world defined by rapid change, complexity, and interdependence, traditional linear ways of thinking are struggling to keep up. Whether we look at global supply chains, climate challenges, digital…

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In The Research Files Episode 105, Jo Earp is joined by Dr Alexandra Hennessey from the University of Manchester to talk about a research study exploring how different schools in the UK have adopted the Well Schools framework. Their…

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17 March 2026 By Sandra Leaton Gray, Rita Chawla-Duggan (Bath University) and David Scott Institutions of education are not well served by the current public tone around sex, sexuality and gender. The debate is often conducted as a test of…

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17 March 2026 By Sandra Leaton Gray, Rita Chawla-Duggan (Bath University) and David Scott Institutions of education are not well served by the current public tone around sex, sexuality and gender. The debate is often conducted as a test of…

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by Cosmin Nada, Thais França and Biana Lyrio Universities around the world, and particularly in postcolonial contexts, are investing significantly in international student attraction. International students feature prominently in…

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10 March 2026 By Sandra Leaton Gray, Rita Chawla-Duggan (Bath University) and David Scott Decolonial feminist work is often misread as an exercise in inclusion, a corrective that adds neglected voices to an otherwise intact canon. That…

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10 March 2026 By Sandra Leaton Gray, Rita Chawla-Duggan (Bath University) and David Scott Decolonial feminist work is often misread as an exercise in inclusion, a corrective that adds neglected voices to an otherwise intact canon. That…

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3 March 2026 By Sandra Leaton Gray, Rita Chawla-Duggan (Bath University) and David Scott When people talk about decolonising the curriculum, the discussion often slides into content. Which authors are on the reading list? Which histories…

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Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with schools to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most frequently asked questions below, so you can…

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Find a course at one of the top universities in the country. Our league tables rank them all subject by subject, as well as by student satisfaction, staff numbers, spending and career prospects Continue reading...