Wonkhe, Higher education: policy, people and politics

Sana Iqbal on her experience of the transformational impact of going to university, and why the debate about ‘value’ can’t capture the benefits of higher education to society.

The image of an ivory tower presents universities set apart from their surrounds yet most are physically, socially, culturally economically and environmentally present within cities, towns and neighbourhoods.

University students turn out in elections much more frequently than is commonly supposed. David Morris reflects on the latest HEPI research into student voting behaviours.

The effort some students go to plagiarise work is like something out of a spy film. Registrarism argues that more must be done to tackle such behaviour.

A supposed lack of student resilience is often used to explain away a number of new challenges for universities. Alex Prestage argues we must move away from a deficit model to one that better recognises relative disadvantage.

There are four fundamental laws of the higher education universe. Not even a general election can break them, or can it? Martin McQuillan looks behind the already mind-numbing sloganeering.

The Higher Education and Research Bill has now been approved by both the Commons and Lords, and the Queen. Finally, we have a Higher Education and Research Act. We round up the major provisions and the best of Wonkhe’s coverage.

Shakira Martin and Amatey Doku are the new faces of NUS for the higher education. Nona Buckley-Irvine explains what this means for the sector’s engagement with NUS and students’ unions.

Metrics of teaching and student experience are set to proliferate and increase in complexity as TEF hits full stride. Ant Bagshaw offers his reflections on mastering the new ‘survey mania’.

Outgoing UCAS head Mary Curnock Cook speaks to Wonkhe about her time leading on admissions, change in the sector, and her unique career.

Adopting new subject coding will not be easy, but doing so will be a big step forward for organising higher education data, writes Marian Hilditch.

The new OfS Chair is famous as a disciple of the Third Way in public services. Shân Wareing makes a plea for the future of HE regulation to adhere to the Fourth Way, a less metrics driven and more inclusive approach.

The government regularly claims that it has cracked down on hundreds of ‘bogus colleges’ offering student visas, but is that really the case? Mike Ratcliffe has looked into who really has been coming on and off the Tier 4 register.

The Prime Minister already looks set to return to Downing Street with an increased majority and a domestic policy programme of her own. Where do universities fit in Mayism, and the ‘May’ general election?

With the debate over international students front and centre of the HE Bill’s endgame in Parliament, Ant Bagshaw argues that the political debate over the issue has too often missed the nuance of the policy.

Northern Ireland’s welfare has been forgotten by its own politicians and now by the UK government. It’s time for civic society, including universities, to step up, argues Fergal McFerran.

The format of University Challenge might feel familiar and be much loved, yet it profoundly distorts the outside world’s perception of universities, argues Cat Turhan.

A new book analysing the political divide between ‘Somewheres’ and ‘Anywheres’ puts universities at the heart of its argument. David Morris looks at higher education’s role in the new politics of identity.

Academia must recognise that it’s only one part of the wider scholarly ecosystem, and academic conferences must reach outside to the wider world. Matthew Flinders explains how this has influenced the Political Studies Association.

Regulating degree apprenticeships and approving baseline standards is very different to the usual process of awarding degrees. Catherine Boyd asks whether the current processes blur the lines of university autonomy.