We’re in the middle of a project to make it easier for prospective students to understand the likely cost of studying and living in Edinburgh. Over February, we did a variety of discovery activities to learn more about this topic.
A recap of what we did and learned: edin.ac/study-costs-discovery
Me in black shorts holding my tabby cat in front of a hedge. The sun is shining and I’m smiling.
I didn’t get it wrong. It was a beautiful #ShortsFriday. Cat approved.
I’m declaring tomorrow, March 20, #ShortsFriday 2026.
Will it be too cloudy in the end and I have gotten this all wrong? I hope not. This is set to be the earliest Shorts Friday yet.
New immigration fees from 8 April 2026 just out. Most fees going up by 6 or 7%.
Settlement (ILR) going up from £3,029 to £3,226 per applicant (so £12,904 for a family of 4).
Cost to Home Office of deciding each application: £523 (£2,092 for a family of 4).
Just so we’re clear:
❌ Travelling clandestinely or in a small boat to seek asylum: wrong
❌ Travelling safely and regularly to seek asylum: also wrong
This government's proposals, particularly if implemented retrospectively, will have a devastating impact on people who have built lives, work, have families, here. We already know the financial and emotional toll of the existing system. This makes it so much worse
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
I've been working on a big refresh on my resources on content audits. I first published these in 2022 - only 3 years ago - but my approach has evolved a fair bit in that time. Plus there's so many tools out there now saying that they can do the whole thing for you. lapope.com/2026/02/20/h...
My team did some housekeeping at the end of last year to audit and rationalise the files in our SharePoint document library.
Here’s a recap of how we did it and the new structure and approach we came up with for storing and maintaining team artefacts: edin.ac/sharepoint-audit
If you know anyone who's ever come to the UK to live alongside you, and you'd either miss them if they were gone, or at the very least reckon they deserve to be treated humanely, please put aside some time to fill this in.
Done my bit by recording my opposition to the horrible British government proposals on immigration.
Although it took me over an hour to do it due to the complexity of the questions and the need to compose 200-word answers, please try to find the time.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
the settlement process is already extremely complex, lengthy, and expensive; these proposals to make it even more difficult to settle in the UK are cruel
please take the time to respond to the consultation, which closes tomorrow
Also: we really need to push back on this constant mantra that settlement (permanent residence) in the UK is a “privilege”.
The very least people are entitled to after spending years here and/or developing family ties is that they shouldn’t have to worry about re-applying to stay every few years.
chatgpt is much like an improv comedy group
1) you are the audience, giving it prompts
2) it produces things roughly shaped like your prompt
3) it is trained to respond with Yes, And
4) it has the factual accuracy of improv
5) it does not understand comedy
5 years is not "quite short". those 5 years cost us about fourteen grand, three horrendously stressful applications, and (for example) a full half decade where nobody would offer us a mortgage because my wife only had temporary residency, so we had to keep paying a fortune in rent instead
A 77% increase in immigration raids, 83% increase in arrests, coupled with undermining modern slavery protections and a call to remove basic ECHR rights from migrants.
If you think what is happening with ICE in the US can't happen here I have a bridge to sell you. 1/
www.gov.uk/government/n...
My book, Accessibility For Everyone, is now free and online as a website.
accessibilityforeveryone.site
The book was first published by A Book Apart in 2017 but it holds up! It covers web accessibility for designers, developers, content folks, and really everyone who works in tech.
The UK government is proposing radical and punitive changes to settlement rules. This is settlement, not citizenship. The consultation is open until 12 February; please respond to it and oppose these evil proposals. Amnesty have a good guide: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
I started off 2026 with a pretty 10k trail run around Vogrie Country Park with my partner.
Blog recap: bit.ly/vogrie-10k26
We're recruiting an Editorial Assistant at @freemovement.bsky.social. Details here: freemovement.org.uk/job-ad-edito...
In 2025, I got back to running longer distances after a period of illness at the end of 2024. I also did the fewest number of races since I started running, and I'm okay with that.
Running in 2025 recap: bit.ly/running-2025
My New Year’s resolution was to finish the first draft of my memoir about my immigration experience. At just over 98,000 words, it’s done and ready for editing.
A recap of year 2 of writing: bit.ly/memoir-draft-done
If you (or your university) is a UCISA member, then you can sign up for this panel on Web / Digital Services tomorrow.
I'll be on it, talking about challenges in HE around money, governance, AI use and more.
ucisa.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
Home Office #HostileEnvironment - seems nothing has changed
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Honestly, I think the average British citizen might actually be shocked to hear how many visit visas are refused for things like births, graduations, funerals, weddings - things that they themselves would never stand for if it happened to their British families…
This x1000
I've written up the findings from our work with people and organisations who have used AI notetakers in meetings, identified 9 risks and a bunch of mitigation strategies. www.careful.industries/blog/2025-11...
Anyway, for immigrants directly impacted by the proposed changes or anyone who wants to prove they are, in fact, an ally to immigrants - please remember that you can respond to this consultation by the Home Office.
ukhomeoffice.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
If it's so smart, why do people have to be so good at "prompt engineering".
Abolish the Home Office
