The Higher Education Show

The Higher Education Show

by Team Wonkhe

Education Government

Season 26

Hope (again), Mi5

This week on the podcast we examine what Labour Party conference told us about the government’s plans for higher education – or, perhaps more significantly, what it didn’t. We also consider what higher education should make of MI5’s warning about research collaboration with the China General Technology Research Institute, the suspension of Buckinghamshire New University’s student sponsor licence, new expectations for student accommodation, and the latest picture on antisemitism on campus. With Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, Gary Hughes, Chief Executive at Durham Students’ Union, Mack Marshall, Editorial Coordinator at Wonkhe, and presented by James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and Research Agenda. All our coverage from Labour Conference 2026 Espionage alert sees MI5 take an interest in Chinese research collaboration

International recruitment, graduate social mobility

This week on the podcast Home Office figures show more than 20,000 fewer study visa applications in August than a year earlier – so is the fall in international recruitment catastrophic for university finances, or merely extremely bad? Universities UK International wants enrolments to return to growth, but new modelling from Public First suggests there is nowhere stable left to grow. Plus we discuss a new report from the Graduate Futures Institute finding that graduate opportunity remains deeply unequal, and our guests pick their stories of the week. With Ben Vulliamy, Executive Director at the Association of Heads of University Administration, Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, Sharanya Sivarajah, Community and Policy Officer at Wonkhe and presented by Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe and Editor at Research Agenda. Study visa applications see a big fall in the key month of August UUKi: Higher Education Sector Action Plan Public First: The international student trap: new modelling finds UK universities have nowhere stable left to grow Why international recruitment keeps chasing the wrong markets University of Leicester: Britain has widened access to university but graduate opportunity remains unequal, report warns

Loans, Free speech

This week on the podcast we examine the government’s response to criticism of the student loan system. With ministers still describing the system as unfair and in need of reform, what might meaningful change now look like? Plus we discuss the Office for Students’ new freedom of speech conditions of registration, and we take a look at the other higher education policy and sector stories that have caught our guests’ attention this week. With David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, Pam Macpherson Barrett, Director of Policy and Regulation at the University of Leeds, and Mack Marshall, Editorial Coordinator at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. Students feel free to speak – unless they’re training to be doctors The tone has changed on free speech, but the architecture hasn’t Student loans are still broken and unfair

Future jobs, uni closures

This week on the podcast we examine Universities UK’s plans to strengthen graduate employment, as its annual conference puts the future of universities and their contribution to jobs, innovation and communities in the spotlight. Plus we discuss new research on what university closure actually feels like for students, and whether existing student protection arrangements are equipped to deal with the financial, academic and personal consequences. We also pick through some of the other higher education and research policy stories catching our attention this week. With Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, Smita Jamdar, Partner and Head of Education at Shakespeare Martineau, and presented by James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and Research Agenda. Will a graduate jobs roadmap show us the right way? Student protection needs to start with what closure actually feels like

Burnham, SUs, Year ahead

This week on the podcast we discuss what Andy Burnham’s new government could mean for higher education, following his first appearance before MPs and a statement setting out priorities on post-16 education, industrial strategy and the role of universities in economic growth. With promises on devolution, a response to the Milburn review on young people not in education, employment or training, and even a commitment to “save Jodrell Bank”, what should the sector make of the direction of travel – and what might the autumn Budget and forthcoming ten-year plan bring? Plus we discuss what students have been experiencing over the long summer break, drawing on lessons from students’ unions around the country, and look ahead to the big higher education policy questions of the year, including mergers and collaboration, developments in Scotland and Wales, and the future of quality. With Hugh Jones, independent consultant and postcard wrangler, Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe. Whose universities are they anyway? Transformation in higher education cannot run on goodwill alone There’s 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end that

Season 25

The end of the year show

This week on the podcast Team Wonkhe looks back on the year in higher education policy and politics – from the Post-16 Education and Skills white paper to the financial pressures pushing institutions towards closures, mergers and deeper collaboration. Plus the team discusses the fallout from the Office for Students' High Court case against the University of Sussex, the shifting narrative around who goes to university and why, and the growing gap between students' financial pressures and what the system assumes about their time and money. With Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, John Blake, Director of the Post-18 Project and David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Funding, student loans, NSSmass

This week on the podcast the government's Strategic Priorities Grant allocation lands with a cash cut of just over £50m – and a much wider list of subjects losing high-cost teaching support, including the creative arts, computing and nursing. Plus two competing views on student loans this week – the House of Commons Treasury Committee concludes the government has, in effect, mis-sold student loans, while the Post-18 Project's John Blake argues the loan book itself is an accounting fiction obstructing reform of university funding in England. And DK has your NSS headlines. With Sarah Cowan, Head of Policy (Higher Education and Research) at the British Academy, Chris Shelley, Director of Student Experience at Queen Mary University of London and James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, presented by Mark Leach, Editor in Chief at Wonkhe. I’ve stopped believing in Father NSSmas. Here’s why Student loans can no longer be patched up. The system is rotten The NSS shows us that students still seem to like higher education The Silence of the Loans: How student loan book fictions prevent higher education reform The Treasury committee proposes tinkering with student loans

PhD students, Burnham

This week on the podcast we ask why UKRI is spending more on PhD studentships while the number of funded starts falls. New analysis shows doctoral stipends have taken priority over the volume of studentships, with UKRI-funded starts 22 per cent lower than a decade ago – so do we have the right number of PhDs, and what does this mean for institutions, disciplines, UK science and academic careers? The team also digs into a new Martingale Foundation report on the experiences of doctoral students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds, and the culture around "not belonging". Plus the Post-18 Project has launched a paper calling for a new Department for Skills, Research, and Prosperity, uniting higher education teaching and research, further education, apprenticeships and the industrial strategy around a presumption in favour of local decision-making. With Eunice Simmons, Vice Chancellor at the University of Chester, John Blake, Director at The Post-18 Project, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. A Ministry for Manchesterism: Rewiring Whitehall for locally-driven prosperity and change Devolution is a means not an end for research The doctoral experience remains shaped by socioeconomic status

Burnham, IFS on value of HE

This week on the podcast we examine the implications of a change at the top of government, as Keir Starmer prepares to depart and Andy Burnham appears set for a swift coronation as Labour leader and Prime Minister. With new policy priorities, new ministers, and a new political centre of gravity potentially taking shape, what might “Manchesterism” mean for higher education? We discuss what new evidence on graduate earnings tells us about the value of higher education, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies reports on returns to study and government edges closer to using outcomes data to shape student loan access and course provision, and we discuss the higher education stories catching attention this week, from science funding and postgraduate research student experience to English language standards, applicant trends, health and wellbeing, and the future of apprenticeship funding. With Vivienne Stern, Chief Executive at Universities UK, Paul Greatrix, Director of Higher Education Consultancy at Shakespeare Martineau, Livia Scott, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe. The Starmer era in English higher education Higher education study still makes financial sense for most What can GCSE performance tell us about salaries aged 27? Can we really separate student experience and student life? There is no growth without universities

Minimum entry, Governance, Working class boys and girls

This week on the podcast reports suggest the Department for Education is considering restricting access to the student loan book to those who hold a pass in GCSE English – a move that could prove financially devastating for institutions with large numbers of students who lack that qualification, many of them linked to franchised provision. Plus, the Committee of University Chairs has published a revised Code of Higher Education Governance, and we discuss the Sutton Trust's latest research on opportunity which complicates the narrative around white working-class boys. With Mike Ratcliffe, Interim Academic Registrar at Canterbury Christ Church University, Annie Bell, Associate Director Higher Education at Public First, and David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. Opportunity is shaped by where you live, who you are, and how much money your family had The Code of Higher Education Governance has had a complete rewrite Is the government really re-immersing itself in the MERs debate?

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