Chris Havergal

The UCL admissions chaos will damage UK HE’s global reputation Future crises can be averted if government and universities share data and plans in a more timely and transparent fashion, says Doug Sprecht

The UCL admissions chaos will damage UK HE’s global reputation, writes @dougspecht.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/ucl-...

Student turns up at university only to find course cancelled Sudden cancellation ‘devastating’ as financial pressures force universities across the country to close programmes

Student turns up for course, having been promised £2K scholarship. At end of induction day, told that the course had been cancelled www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student... via @patrickjack.bsky.social

Five UK universities tell staff they can’t afford pay rises Negotiations over whether to honour 1.4 per cent increase ongoing at several other institutions amid financial crunch

At least five UK universities have told staff they will not be paying them the sector-wide uplift that was due in August www.timeshighereducation.com/news/five-uk... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

NUS orders academics back to campus five days a week National University of Singapore scraps policy that allowed one work from home day because of the ‘value of in-person interactions’

National University of Singapore mandates that all full-time staff should work on campus five days a week www.timeshighereducation.com/news/nus-ord... via @tashmosheim.bsky.social

Maintenance grants only for priority courses ‘deeply concerning’ Using financial incentives to influence student choice risk undermining Labour’s widening access goals, critics fear

Limiting maintenance grants only to certain courses may end up undermining Labour’s goal of widening access and puts arts, humanities, and social sciences programmes at further risk, experts warn www.timeshighereducation.com/news/mainten... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social @patrickjack.bsky.social

Starmer: 50 per cent university target ‘not right for our times’ Prime minister scraps Tony Blair's long-held target to get half of young people into higher education, instead aiming for two-thirds accessing university or apprenticeships

Story: Keir Starmer drops Labour’s long-held target of ensuring at least 50 per cent of young people attend university, stating: “I don’t think that’s right for our times.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/starmer... via @jgro-the.bsky.social

There were times when HE didn't get a mention even in education secretary's conference speech, so it's notable it's in the PM's speech as well...plenty to digest here beyond participation targets, including single funding model for level 4-6 courses, and FE courses coming under OfS regulation

Pleased to see the return of maintenance grants. Sorry they won’t probably cover most of humanities & social sciences (although let’s see). But most of all intrigued as to how they will manage a very complex funding stream. If fewer international students in a given year does that mean fewer grants?

I noted I still needed time to digest and analyse fully

One q is if this will be applied at a sector or an institution basis

I assume the former, meaning higher tariff universities may contribute more in international student levy

With other universities having more students eligible for grants?

Labour promises new maintenance grants ‘funded by fee levy’ Mean-tested support only to be offered to those studying courses aligned to party’s priority areas

Story: Labour to fund targeted maintenance grants with international fee levy www.timeshighereducation.com/news/labour-... via @twilliamsthe.bsky.social

Return of maintenance grants welcome but funding it with international student levy is a ‘mistake’, @universitiesuk.bsky.social chief executive @viviennestern.bsky.social tells @smfthinktank.bsky.social fringe. International students already heavily cross-subsidising sector.

In conference speech Bridget Phillipson announces return of maintenance grants for targeted courses, funded by international student levy. Now in @smfthinktank.bsky.social fringe on widening access, so will be interesting to hear what panel makes of that…

Collapse in Chinese student numbers ‘highly likely’ by 2040 Long-term trends including declining birth rate mean number of students looking to study abroad set to be much lower in only 10 years’ time

Steep decline in number of Chinese students studying abroad “highly likely” in next decade but universities reliant on these enrolments for survival remain mostly oblivious to the coming challenge, reports @tashmosheim.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/collaps...

Deficit looms for Scottish sector amid ‘stark’ financial climate Universities projected to dip into the red next year due to falling fee income and rising staff costs, with any long-term recovery likely to be uneven

Scottish universities forecast £13 million deficit for next year www.timeshighereducation.com/news/deficit... via @twilliamsthe.bsky.social

Where now for the REF? The Research Excellence Framework has been postponed for three months ‘to take stock and ensure alignment with the UK government’s priorities and vision for higher education’. But how radical should t...

Where now for the REF? Five very different views on how radical the changes should be www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/where-...

Fee levy economic impact ‘hits hardest in Labour constituencies’ Cost to UK economy of £1.8 billion a year once ‘gross value added’ by international students factored in, new analysis shows

Majority of constituencies likely to take biggest economic hit from UK’s proposed levy on international student fees are held by Labour, researchers find www.timeshighereducation.com/news/fee-lev... via @twilliamsthe.bsky.social

‘National scandal’: quarter of students suffer sexual harassment ‘Shocking figures’ show ‘devastating’ impact on students, with women and LGB people particularly vulnerable

Quarter of students have suffered some form of sexual harassment since entering higher education, UK-wide survey finds, with prevalence far higher among certain groups and only one in 10 reporting incidents formally www.timeshighereducation.com/news/nationa... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

Should an academic replace Melvyn Bragg on In Our Time? With the veteran BBC presenter leaving the landmark Radio 4 show, some say the job should next go to one of a growing breed of academic broadcasters

Who should replace Melvyn Bragg as host of In Our Time? And should it be an academic? @jgro-the.bsky.social looks at the runners and riders www.timeshighereducation.com/news/should-...

Little enthusiasm for US-style purge of equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives in universities, major UK poll from @moreincommonuk.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk finds www.timeshighereducation.com/news/public-... via @twilliamsthe.bsky.social iam

Specialise or else: Australian review targets focused research Registration requirements and compact negotiations would be reformed to funnel universities into ‘focus areas’, under panel’s draft proposals

Australian funding and policy settings would be restructured to force universities to specialise their research, under draft proposals from a landmark review of the country’s innovation system www.timeshighereducation.com/news/special...

KEF 2025: Russell Group shines on research spin-out investment Results of the fifth annual Knowledge Exchange Framework show research-intensive institutions performed mostly strongly on intellectual property (IP) and commercialisation

KEF 2025: Russell Group shines on research spin-out investment www.timeshighereducation.com/news/kef-202... via @jgro-the.bsky.social

UK ‘would lose 135,000 domestic places’ if fee levy introduced New modelling estimates that controversial proposals could wipe about £2.2 billion from the UK economy in just five years

Introduction of a levy on overseas tuition fees in the UK could deter tens of thousands of international applicants and lead to loss of university places for domestic students, research finds www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-woul... via @patrickjack.bsky.social

Keep funding high-level apprentices in priority areas, MPs urge Education committee says exemption to defunding plans for healthcare courses should be extended to include ‘growth-driving’ industries

More priority industries should be exempted from UK government’s plans to defund master’s level apprenticeships, says House of Commons Education Committee www.timeshighereducation.com/news/keep-fu... via @patrickjack.bsky.social

UK government urged by @sciencecampaign.bsky.social to remove barriers in the visa process for researchers to capitalise on new US restrictions imposed by Donald Trump www.timeshighereducation.com/news/confusi... via @patrickjack.bsky.social

Use REF pause to review non-portability of outputs, urge scholars Breaking the link between researchers and their outputs harms academic mobility and disciplinary excellence, argue professors

Use REF pause to review non-portability of outputs, urge scholars including @jennyrichards.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/use-ref... via @jgro-the.bsky.social

New higher education minister for Scotland Ben Macpherson returns to government in mini reshuffle triggered by Jamie Hepburn’s resignation

Ben Macpherson named Scottish higher education minister in mini reshuffle triggered by Jamie Hepburn's resignation www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-hig...

‘Not growth for growth’s sake’: Barrow campus targets progression University of Cumbria opens doors of new campus in town where only 13 per cent of school leavers continue on to higher education

“Just thinking people are going to run through the doors and be grateful that you're there – it's just not going to happen. It makes you rethink your model of higher education and your model of engagement.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/not-gro... via @patrickjack.bsky.social

Kyle 'out of touch' for claiming British students 'lack drive' Former science secretary called ‘out of touch’ after accusing British students of lacking 'vigour'

Business secretary criticised for complaining too many UK university students want to "explore research and knowledge", with too few wanting to start businesses of their own www.timeshighereducation.com/news/kyle-ou... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

A SmartViz monitoring device installed at a university.

Very much enjoying the culture of trust and respect implicit in the installation of room usage monitoring devices on academics' office doors today. Imagine my shock on discovering that managers' doors remain unsullied…

Includes a contribution from me.

Using the TEF to determine whether universities and other HE providers are entitled to receive more students and / or more funding is totally unjustified, in my view.