More means worse? (Data that is)

 Lots of information is not necessarily a good thing for prospective students I've written before about concerns about too much data and the importance of quality rather than just quantity in the information provided to applicants to higher education. Now a new HEFCE report on Improving information for prospective students has come to a similar …

The 2014 Grant letter: another epistolary triumph

And the wait was finally over The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has written to HEFCE with the Department's annual message on funding and helpful bag of instructions. As excitement in the sector reached near fever pitch, the contents were being live-tweeted by @TimesHigherEd while everyone else waited to get hold of …

Yet More Information

The US seems to be following the UK's lead I've previously written about the excess of information available for prospective students in UK HE and the fact that it really isn't a substitute for proper advice and guidance. Now The Chronicle of Higher Education has a story on plans for extra information to be provided in the US and why …

The Imperfect University: Sectoral change since Robbins and into the future

All change please! Sectoral change since Robbins and into the future Rewriting Robbins? The very thought I recently agreed to give a presentation on this theme at an event entitled “Rewriting Robbins” by those lovely people at SGP Martineau. You can find the full details of the event here  and my rather fetching but nevertheless …

Working with Young Carers

New activities to support young and young adult carers. The University of Nottingham's Impact Campaign is supporting a range of activities involving work with young and young adult carers. Britain’s ‘invisible army’ of young carers and young adult carers provide unpaid care to family members. As well as caring for loved ones who are ill, …

Higher education funding letters: another bundle of joy

On government HE funding letters The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has written to HEFCE with the Department's annual message on funding and helpful bag of instructions. The letter sets out Government funding and priorities for HEFCE and for higher education for the second year of the new financial arrangements for higher …

Troops to Teachers

New directions for service leavers: but should UK be doing more? The University of Nottingham is offering extra places for for former service personnel wishing to retrain as teachers. It's an interesting development and one which has arisen as part of a government initiative: British servicemen and women who are leaving or have left the …

The Imperfect University: Massive Open Online Confusion?

The Future of HE? Or Massive Open Online Confusion? For the latest Imperfect University piece a few thoughts on a topic which is attracting considerable comment at the moment: the growth of the Massive Open Online Course or MOOC. There has been a huge amount of hype around the new models of online provision or …

Nottingham Potential – a launch and an opening

Helping young people to reach their true potential I was delighted to be at an excellent event to mark the launch of Nottingham Potential and the formal opening of the IntoUniversity Nottingham West centre. It's a major programme and a central component of the University's widening participation strategy which has the aim of helping young …

Too much data?

Will more data help prospective students? Richard Partington, writing in THE, expresses concern about the 'data overload' which the Key Information Set (KIS) will deliver. He notes that the provision of information to applicants via the KIS is intended to work in a similar way to price comparison websites such as those offering car insurance. …

Advice for prospective students – quantity and quality

High quality advice and guidance is key for delivering access An interesting piece by Tessa Stone in the Times Higher Education on the importance of clear, impartial and high quality advice for potential university students. I'd agree with a lot of what Tessa says: So, the schools that already do this well will continue to …

British students flocking to the US Ivy League. Or not?

An untrained brain drain? In a recent post I commented on the press reports on the modest flow of English students to universities in continental Europe and the reverse flow of other EU students to the UK. The media seems extremely keen to report any international movement by students from the UK as evidence of …

University of the People v College for the Few

For the many or the few? A previous post commented on the Fantasy institution that is the New College of the Humanities. This story rumbles on in the UK and is continuing source of interest for many. But whatever one might think of the merits or otherwise of the project, no-one would seek to suggest …

Tuition fees: Minister warns universities

More than just sabre-rattling? The BBC reports on a warning from the Universities Minister concerning fee setting plans. Speaking at the Dearing Conference at the University of Nottingham on 17 February he warned that, because the government had assumed that the average fee would be £7,500, if most universities charged higher than this the additional …

Charity Commission rules and universities’ charitable status

Possible threat to universities' charitable status Interesting opinion piece from Pinsent Masons on how Charity Commission rules could threaten universities' charitable status. Universities are not like schools, for any number of reasons. One reason, though, will be vital in universities' coming battle to retain their charitable status: you don't need to go to university to …