“Like a badly-wired plug, the English HE system operated, but the longer it did so, the more likely it would spark. The current financial state of the sector suggests that, somewhere, the fire has already begun.”
My first essay for The Post-18 Project is published today.
When politicians or commentators recommend school leavers become plumbers or electricians, typically they are often referring to other people’s kids
as.ft.com/r/27211f5e-b...
"I’m very worried about what is being destroyed. We’re all extremely worried, because what we’re seeing is the ad hoc closure and drastic cutting of many, many departments across the country."
Historian Lyndal Roper in today's THE: bit.ly/4sqsfJ2 #Skystorians 1/2
Totally superb and fearless writing here from Susan Pedersen.
“…any man shocked by the Epstein story has been working over time at shutting his eyes”
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Lord Vallance
Fantastic to have Science Minister Lord Vallance open our @britishacademy.bsky.social sector conference this morning. He talks eloquently about protecting and growing curiosity driven research which does not provide a return during a single Parliamentary cycle
Closure of language courses is ‘national catastrophe’, warns VC.
Birmingham leader Adam Tickell says “institutional mergers” may be needed to protect “national cultural assets”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Why did the People's Vote campaign fail? Could Brexit have been stopped? What lessons can be learned?
Join us on 19 March to launch @morganj0nes.bsky.social's new book: "No Second Chances: The Inside Story of the Campaign for a Second Referendum".
All welcome!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/no-second-...
Graphic with the following text: "1. International students who do not generate provider income should be exempt - including Erasmus+ participants following the UK’s association."
"2. Students studying SHAPE subjects must be eligible for levyfunded maintenance grants. Restricting subject eligibility harms UK economic growth and signals that disadvantaged students ‘deserve’ fewer choices."
"We urge the government to reconsider the levy, engage with the sector, and pursue a sustainable funding model to safeguard higher education and research."
We are continuing to call for the government to withdraw the International Student Levy. This levy will add more financial pressure to a system under strain, threatening the UK’s research excellence, global reputation, and economic competitiveness.
Super exciting to see this in the flesh! This was such a side project for me but I got so much from it and loved having the opportunity to do it!
NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson assembles cross-national evidence showing Britain's shrinking graduate premium is a demand-side problem – and that closing courses won't fix it buff.ly/dGzdEAF
Rest assured I intend to flog your wares to each passing Spaniard
A copy of Morgan Jones’ new book No Second Chances: The Inside Story of the Campaign for a Second EU Referendum (available from all good bookstores) with a pint (widely available) on a sunny day.
Reading @morganj0nes.bsky.social’s new book as it was meant to be read (on a Eurozone mini break necking a Cruzcampo)
Some great (if utterly depressing) charts and commentary from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com in @data.ft.com today. First one is a zinger… #studentloans
Excerpt from interview with David Willetts, former universities minister and current chair of the Resolution Foundation, in Research Professional 13/02/26. Text reads: Stay the course We also had time to talk about the wave of course closures at UK universities. Willetts is particularly concerned, as we all are, about threats to arts and humanities subjects—not least modern foreign languages. Here, he spots a possible opportunity to use the government's current focus on security as an advantage. "I think there's scope for a rather unusual alliance between the arts and humanities in universities and security," he says.
![Excerpt from interview with David Willetts, former universities minister and current chair of the Resolution Foundation, in Research Professional 13/02/26. Text reads:
"I said to [former prime minister] David Cameron once [in a cabinet discussion] that there is just an assumption in the British government that whenever there's an international crisis, or a British hostage is taken or there's a civil war and the Brits need to be evacuated, there's always someone in Britain who knows the history of the place, who speaks the relevant language, who can suddenly advise you on what this group is that's suddenly taken three British hostages and is holding them in the jungle somewhere," he explains.
"We assume that we know that kind of stuff, and that is only because of the breadth of the humanities, the study of foreign languages, the study of history in the UK."
To ensure regions aren't deprived of those subjects, Willetts calls for Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subjects funding (which does what it says on the tin) to be enhanced.
"As an absolute minimum, government needs: a) the capacity to scan and get [information about local provision]; and b) a discretionary pot of money that it can deploy if there's something so serious it thinks it needs to be protected," he](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ec4gl6exrfl4t42jwy6hphab/bafkreicltwwjait3pgnn3q6t3wt3hqjiww32zcodkqeji3sf7vgicnk3we)
Excerpt from interview with David Willetts, former universities minister and current chair of the Resolution Foundation, in Research Professional 13/02/26. Text reads: "I said to [former prime minister] David Cameron once [in a cabinet discussion] that there is just an assumption in the British government that whenever there's an international crisis, or a British hostage is taken or there's a civil war and the Brits need to be evacuated, there's always someone in Britain who knows the history of the place, who speaks the relevant language, who can suddenly advise you on what this group is that's suddenly taken three British hostages and is holding them in the jungle somewhere," he explains. "We assume that we know that kind of stuff, and that is only because of the breadth of the humanities, the study of foreign languages, the study of history in the UK." To ensure regions aren't deprived of those subjects, Willetts calls for Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subjects funding (which does what it says on the tin) to be enhanced. "As an absolute minimum, government needs: a) the capacity to scan and get [information about local provision]; and b) a discretionary pot of money that it can deploy if there's something so serious it thinks it needs to be protected," he
Interesting to see David Willetts today talking course closures and cold spots in UK HE: Willetts calls for expansion of strategic/vulnerable subject funding to protect humanities (and especially languages) degrees, particularly given their importance for defence and national security…
Really great to see Medr's Welsh HE subject provision deep dive out today, citing and following British Academy research into widening cold spots in Welsh HE, particularly in languages degrees (yes, including degrees in Welsh) www.medr.cymru/wp-content/u...
'The ground-breaking study from the University of Stirling will examine the educational, economic, social and cultural factors that impact on language learning, analysing the different approaches and outcomes in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.'
I have joined The Post 18 Project as our first Director: my first intervention is to pour out my thoughts about why our student loan system is doomed, no matter how good policy works think it is.
post18.co.uk/a-review-of-...
'With cost-of-living pressures still severe, 45 per cent of UK 18-year-olds stated that...they intend to live at home for their studies – up from 43 per cent the year before. Among the total student population, this proportion is now almost half (49 per cent).' 2/2
Nothing gives me that Friday feeling quite like
Why would providers even need to collaborate if there were plenty of options for students elsewhere? What about if the course primarily attracts local students, so safeguarding regional provision becomes even more important?
The way to prevent regional HE cold spots is unis collaborating - but the CMA say likely only ok to jointly run courses 'if there are many providers offering a course nationally + the course tends to attract students from across the country who have other good options' (!)
www.gov.uk/government/p...
This is why the @britishacademy.bsky.social is so worried about regional ‘cold spots’ in the provision of key university courses - young people who can’t afford the costs or the commute miss out on life-changing opportunities in labour markets that need these skills… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Plus @christabelcoops.bsky.social @redrabbleroz.bsky.social @marzmac.bsky.social @lucydelap.bsky.social and many more!
For full and unfettered access to the issue (online and in a lovely print edition) when it comes out I think you should subscribe here: renewal.org.uk
Some data for context: GCSE entries in Eng/Wales/NI for French, German and Spanish as a % of overall entries since 2010. (Entries for the same languages represented <2% of all A level entries as of 2025). Really bleak
'Only 42% of the govt MFL teacher recruitment was met in 2024... [though] the target for 25/26 has been 93% met, I’m afraid this is only because the target itself was cut by nearly a half. So not really anything to write home about.' Fighting words from Baroness Coussins, Chair APPG Modern Langs...
Lords debate on steep challenges to MFL language teacher recruitment (live now) - sobering discussion on a growing crisis, and the very real danger of languages vanishing from most young people's educational offer in the near future: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/2bb318d7-b85d-4667-a579-0e9736398f42
England’s qualifications regulator Ofqual has said it would ‘welcome any interest’ from an awarding organisation looking to gain recognition to provide GCSEs, after all four existing exam boards in the country ruled out developing courses for the proposed British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE.
We have responded to the OfS consultation on quality regulation. We welcome some proposals, including the expansion of TEF to all providers. Yet we are concerned about proposals to transform the TEF’s core aims and raise the stakes of TEF performance.
Here are our key takeaways:
Lots at stake in the OfS' new proposals for quality regulation and the future of the TEF! Read the British Academy's view below. Yes we went through all 246 subproposals (and eight annexes) so you don't have to - merry christmas: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/60...
