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Tag: Universities

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Brexit

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Brexit

My latest post on Wonkhe considers five silver linings for the university sector on Brexit. ” Our sector’s values and culture are not determined by whether laws are made in Brussels, Westminster or Holyrood. Regardless of what deal we leave on, or whether we leave on no deal at all, I’m confident that Britain’s universities will continue to be global, outwardly looking and cosmopolitan places, extending a welcoming hand to people from across the world.”

Wonkhe: The virtues of university giving

Wonkhe: The virtues of university giving

In my latest article for Wonkhe, I set out the moral case for why graduates should seriously consider donating to their university. As it’s a Wonkhe piece, the piece is written for an audience of those who work in the university sector, but the core messages and arguments apply to any graduate who feels they’ve benefited from their education. Read the full piece below: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-virtues-of-university-giving/

Conservative Home: £9,250 tuition fees: Bad for students, Bad for Society, Bad for the Conservative Party

Conservative Home: £9,250 tuition fees: Bad for students, Bad for Society, Bad for the Conservative Party

In my latest Conservative Home article I set out why a major reduction in university tuition fees (replaced by teaching grant based on the cost to deliver the coursr) isn’t just the right thing to do for public policy reasons, but makes good electoral sense for the Conservatives as well. Read the full article here: Iain Mansfield: £9,250 fees are bad for students, bad for society, and bad for the Conservatives

Wonkhe: Subject TEF

Wonkhe: Subject TEF

My lastest Wonkhe article looks at the latest government updates on subject level TEF, the first major policy release since I was involved. You can read the full article here: An outsider’s view of subject level TEF

Wonkhe: A Hierarchy of Purposes in Higher Education

Wonkhe: A Hierarchy of Purposes in Higher Education

My latest Wonkhe article looks at the various purposes fulfilled by higher education and concludes that it’s time to make receiving a degree conditional upon passing a basic national test in Maths and English. Read the full article here: A hierarchy of purposes in higher education

A University Challenge Ranking

A University Challenge Ranking

Many football fans have a complex system of which team to support in any given match, based on a wide variety of factors that may appear arbitrary and inpenetrable to the outsider, but internally to them makes complete sense. I have a similar system for determining which team to support in University Challenge. This entirely serious in every way and not at at all arbitrary ranking is as follows: – Christ’s College, Cambridge – Emmanuel College, Cambridge – Bath Spa…

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Initial Hypothesis: The Game of Teaching Excellence

Initial Hypothesis: The Game of Teaching Excellence

Download and print a fully playable game based on the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). A card game for 2-5 players, lasting 30-40 minutes, Initial Hypothesis is a fast-paced game of skill and luck, in which each player seeks to secure a Gold TEF rating before their opponents do. Go for Gold at the helm of one of five renowned English institutions, including the Universities of Poppleton and Oxbridge. Collect a full set of TEF metrics – and…

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A New University Ranking

A New University Ranking

Ranking universities by the proportion of entrants who go on to graduate jobs or further study. The  higher education landscape is blessed with many detailed and accurate datasets. Many of the most commonly used sources of data, however, artificially flatter the sector’s performance. For example, the sector’s preferred measure of ‘non-continuation’ only looks at the proportion of  students who don’t continue from the first to the second year – rather than, as one might expect, the proportion that complete (or…

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Wonkhe: Value for Money for Whom?

Wonkhe: Value for Money for Whom?

Is going to university value for money? In my latest Wonkhe article I look at misalignments between the individual and the state when it comes to assessing value for money, examine the increasing prevalence of ‘signalling’ dominating over actual skills gains and discuss the need to transfer funding from failing academic courses to high quality technical and vocational alternatives. You can read the full article here: Working towards a sector taxonomy of value If you’ve not yet done so, there…

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