Our Blog
Why local pay isn’t a great or straightforward idea
Weekend media was full of Budget leaks suggesting that the government will abandon national public sector pay deals for a series of local or regional settlements. Such a decision may save considerable money for HM Treasury over the longer term as public sector pay...
Politics is jeopardising relationships between colleges and universities
Published today on the Guardian HE Network David Willetts and Vince Cable are aggressively talking up the role that FE colleges can play in driving value, dynamism and competition in higher education. They have announced that the majority of "core and margin" places...
This strange debate about ‘Excellence’ and ‘Talent’…
The appointment of Les Ebdon as the new director of OFFA continues to make headlines. The unjustified personal attacks on him and the University of Bedfordshire have broadened to an assault on OFFA itself and on the HE sector as a whole. It is both a dangerous and an...
OFFA appointment chaos
Today we hear that Les Ebdon has been vetoed by the BIS select committee as the next head of OFFA. In a new process of scrutiny and endorsement, committee members voted 4-2 against appointing him arguing that in his appearance before them they 'struggled to get a...
OFFA appointment chaos
Today we hear that Les Ebdon has been vetoed by the BIS select committee as the next head of OFFA. In a new process of scrutiny and endorsement, committee members voted 4-2 against appointing him arguing that in his appearance before them they 'struggled to get a...
HEFCE Grant letter and HE Bill Part 2
A few further thoughts on the delayed HE bill and the final appearance of the HEFCE Grant letter yesterday… Reactions and comments to the reported postponing of the bill are still coming thick and fast, but it is clear that either way it is unlikely to stop the pace...
A Delayed HE Bill?
Lots of commentary and speculation in the sector today with the news that the HE Bill may be shelved – either for a year or two or possibly even beyond the next General Election. There are two sets of issues that need thinking about if such a delay is true. First is...
Universities and a vocational economy: why we should rethink HE’s role
Lord Glasman's New Statesman article has generated mass headlines and commentary on Ed Miliband's leadership of the Labour Party - in his words 'no strategy, no narrative and little energy’. Glasman points to a series of radical policies that Miliband should adopt if...