By Sarah Howls. The university also provides a pro-bono law clinic to the local community with the dual benefits of providing a highly valued service to local people as well providing invaluable real-life learning opportunities for its students. More...
Social mobility: is it all about room at the top?
By Sarah Howls. On Monday this week, the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission published its second state of the nation report, ‘Social Mobility and Child Poverty in Great Britain’. Chapter 6 was of particular interest to me since it focuses on the role of higher education (HE). Therefore, my comments here are based on Chapter 6 rather than a detailed reading of the full report and on how it relates to HEFCE’s work. More...
Can postgraduate student finance turn graduate intentions into reality?
By HEFCE Analyst. According to figures from the last two years, 17 per cent of graduates in 2013 intended to pursue a postgraduate qualification, but only half of them actually did so. Here we look at some of the data that might make the Government’s plans to offer greater financial support for postgraduate taught students look a lot like welcome news. More...
Efficiency kicks off the HE and FE show
By Stephen Butcher. When I walked up to the Kensington Olympia yesterday, just before 9, I was staggered to see queues of people waiting to be let in to the venue. Was I in the wrong place? This is the wrong month for Wimbledon. It was a showcase for higher education and further education with trade stands and guest speakers. I was told by one of the organisers that over four and half thousand people had booked to attend. How times are changing. More...
Benefits realisation is making an impression beyond higher education
By Stephen Butcher. One of our Cost Sharing Group projects is the Benefits Realisation Analysis and Modelling project (BRAM) which is run out of Falmouth Exeter Plus (FXPlus) in Cornwall. FXPlus is the service partner which is jointly owned by the universities of Falmouth and Exeter to manage the combined campus at Penryn. More...
Research excellence in numbers
By Alex Herbert. The results are out. They will be pored over by thousands of academics, administrators, journalists, policy makers, critics and friends of the REF. They will be interpreted in many ways and used for purposes beyond the original intentions of the four funding bodies that steer and sponsor the exercise. More...
Metrics for all?
By Jude Hill. HEFCE is currently project managing an Independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment and management. From the outset, the project’s steering group has been well aware that views on the use of metrics in these contexts are both diverse and heartfelt. More...
Reviewing the future of quality assessment
By Shirley Pearce. There are shifts in both the nature of the provision and in the demands of those who seek information about the quality of this provision. Over the next decade there will be greater diversity of providers and provision, new applications of digital and internet-based learning, and increasingly global patterns of delivery. More...
Thinking about monographs in a world of open access
By Geoffrey Crossick. In this post, Professor Geoffrey Crossick introduces his report on monographs and open access, outlining the key messages of the report and giving his personal take on the issues and the wider contexts. More...
Looking ahead: HEFCE’s Business Plan 2015 – 2020
By Madeleine Atkins. Much has changed in England over the last five years: the higher education ‘market’ has opened up to new providers, the student number control cap on expansion has been removed for publicly funded higher education institutions, and a transition from block grant-based funding to student loan-based funding of teaching has taken place. More...