Some fabulously informed comments on this piece. Really if you work at a university and want to understand what is happening right now, this is a very good place to start.

wonkhe.com/blogs/the-fi...

If you fancy discussing ways of working in learning technology, there's still time to register for our first @altuk.bsky.social Independent Consultancy & Career Pathways SIG event, an online unconference this Friday afternoon (2–3.30pm)! More info at the link 🙂
www.alt.ac.uk/civicrm/even...

The government's in a pickle over fees and funding Debates over higher education funding tend to focus on fees and maintenance - but what’s going on beneath the surface? Jim Dickinson goes down the watering hole Debates over higher education funding t...

This is a good well presented article from Jim Dickinson on the finance conundrum that the government faces with HE - The government's in a pickle over fees and funding wonkhe.com/blogs/the-go...

HESA Spring 2025: staff Working in the higher education sector has become more precarious than ever. David Kernohan tracks the changes through the data

With more universities announcing significant redundancy programmes, I've taken a look at what HESA Staff data (out yesterday) tells us about staff starting at or leaving academic employment in UK higher education.

wonkhe.com/blogs/hesa-s...

Yes I assumed that’s what you meant - and you are right that if places like Cardiff cannot make the books balance then the sector really is in deep trouble

I’d imagine wages, IT, estates and heating costs rising rapidly but student fees set in stone since 2012 (roughly - very minor uplifts) and sector grant funding decreasing? - 212 unis predicted to be in deficit if student numbers stay static. The pain is real.

Cardiff: University confirms plans to cut 400 jobs Vice-chancellor Wendy Larner says

I don't understand HE financing - how is a Russell group uni with students queuing up to attend, in trouble? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Lessons from BETT: AI’s Role in Education Cost Management Entrance to the BETT Global event at London Excel Centre I went to the BETT conference this year and was invited to be ‘starter’ for a table talk session on “How does your institu…

New Blog Post: Lessons from BETT: AI’s Role in Education Cost Management technocrapy.wordpress.com/2025/01/28/l...

This is a terrific video about curlews, which thankfully still breed within the (wide!) boundary of the City of Sheffield.

The sad and surprising tale of how a series of terrible decisions by a regulator pushed one of our best known theatre schools out of undergraduate higher education. wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...

A Modernist duck-pond

memex.naughtons.org/friday-27-de...

Make UK’s Industrial Strategy Skills Commission Launches Call for Evidence

The @makeuk.bsky.social #IndustrialStrategy Skills Commission has launched a call for evidence! As a Commissioner, I want to hear your views on #skills needs, challenges, existing initiatives etc. Contribute to this important work by responding here: makeuk.org/insights/pub... #UKmfg

A woman is sitting on a living room floor, reading from a laptop. The text reads 'What is ORO? Open Research Online (ORO) is the The OU's repository of published research: openly accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Photo credit Thought Catalog on Unsplash.'

Have you heard about Open Research Online (ORO)? It's the #OpenAccess repository of The Open University's peer reviewed and published #research.

The service is publicly accessible and can be browsed and searched freely. Take a look: oro.open.ac.uk

Photo of large Christmas Rat with red striped hat and bow tie

This is a thing now apparently. Hunting for the “Christmas Rat” for a member of the family who shall remain nameless. Reminds me of Rowland Rat: