Nick Hillman

A recording of our webinar on students’ employment is now available here:
www.hepi.ac.uk/events/webin...

I’m not the only one listening carefully to the live @hepi-news.bsky.social webinar on student employment:

Why the current campaign on student loan interest may be misguided, misunderstood and misdirected - HEPI HEPI Director Nick Hillman takes a look at the campaign to write off some outstanding student debt. There has been a spate of media stories this week about student loans. In essence, people who went t...

www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/01/22/w...

Why the current campaign on student loan interest may be misguided, misunderstood and misdirected - HEPI HEPI Director Nick Hillman takes a look at the campaign to write off some outstanding student debt. There has been a spate of media stories this week about student loans. In essence, people who went t...

www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/01/22/w...

This is nonsense (as @wonkhe.bsky.social have already pointed out elsewhere). Our work with both @advancehe.bsky.social &, separately, with a group of unis led by the University of Lancashire show this beyond any doubt. The reason is obvious: insufficient maintenance support. @hepi-news.bsky.social

Does the Post 16 White Paper have the right answers, or even the right questions? - Inside Your Ed It is entirely normal for a Government to announce plans to reform either Higher Education (HE) or Further Education (FE). What is much less normal is a Government announcing a plan to reform HE and F...

And at No.1 for 2025.....

1. Does the Post 16 White Paper have the right answers, or even the right questions?

@nickhillmanuk.bsky.social and @ukshane.bsky.social provided a fascinating and detailed dissection of the Government's plans for HE and FE.

Congrats Nick and Shane!

🎧 bit.ly/44LSaRS

A Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen years of book reviews on higher education, 2013 to 2025 - HEPI Fifteen years ago, in December 2010, students were rioting on the streets of London as the House of Commons voted to allow undergraduate tuition fees in England to rise to £9,000. These higher fees le...

In a new HEPI paper, I gather together 30 of my book reviews relating to higher education:

www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/a-ba...

I wouldn’t go that far and I’d hope re-association might do a bit to bolster languages … but I do think few people know how our old membership worked in practice and how it cost us much more £ than it benefited Brits going overseas.

Can you explain what you’re referring to here? What ‘random review’ from 2016?

My take on the new Curriculum and Assessment Review:

I blame Tom Richmond for the fact I have Zombie by The Cranberries stuck inside my head again:

English lessons: Review of Nick Gibb's book on educational reform after 2010 - by HEPI Director Nick Hillman - HEPI This is the second book on education in a row that I have reviewed on the HEPI website that comes from a right-of-centre perspective. The previous review (of a book by the President of the New College...

My holiday reading included this excellent new book:
www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/08/30/e...

“For researchers, the ability to engage with a text in the original language is especially useful in situations where precise nuances—whether technical, legal [or] literary—really matter,” she [Megan Bowler, HEPI report author] said.

@ucflangs.bsky.social The University Council For Languages (UCFL) responds to welcome a new @hepi-news.bsky.social report and joins them in calling for urgent action on revitalising language learning university-council-for-languages.org/2025/07/31/n...

Sharp decline in students taking A-level exams in French and German % change in provisional A-level entries for the summer exam series in England, 2024 to 2025 French -8.3 German -6.8 Classical subjects -1.9 All modern languages -1.5 All A-level subjects Spanish 1.4 -8 -6 FINANCIAL TIMES -4 -2 Source: Ofqual

HEPI Director @nickhillman.bsky.social points to the 2004 decision to scrap the requirement for young people to study one language until the age of 16.

“It is, quite clearly in my view, the worst educational policy of this century.” he says.

We use the Languages for All project as a case study on page 29.

What a bizarre piece. You were invited to speak at a conference, which was small with loads of room for all the attendees to get stuck in … yet now you’re complaining that the issues you wanted to be discussed weren’t discussed? There was lots of space and time for you to raise them.

Hillman: don’t apologise for raising tuition fees, celebrate them Hepi director argues that England’s funding system is ‘not broken’ but just needs to catch up with inflation – and that ministers should get behind it

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/hillman...