David Kernohan

2 weeks ago | wonkhe.com | David Kernohan

The question of how we drive access to and participation in higher education among non-traditional groups is intimately linked to the broader question of why we are doing it. Accordingly, there are different approaches across the UK. Whereas in the English system the focus is on outreach (partnerships between universities and schools), in Scotland and Wales there is a lot more interest in measuring and shaping university recruitment from underrepresented groups.

1 month ago | wonkhe.com | David Kernohan

The 2023-24 HESA student data release was delayed by three rather than six months this year. We’re clearly getting better at dealing with the output (and the associated errors) of data collected through the HESA Data Platform. While there are not as many identified issues as in last year’s cycle the list is long and occasionally unnerving.

1 month ago | wonkhe.com | David Kernohan

We’ve covered elsewhere the implications for policy related to academic freedom and freedom of speech stemming from the Office for Students’ decision to fine the University of Sussex for breaches of ongoing registration conditions E1 and E2. The publication of a detailed regulatory report also allows us insight into the way in which OfS is likely to respond to future breaches of registration conditions.

1 month ago | wonkhe.com | David Kernohan

So everyone is (still, after more than a decade) agreed that student loan fraud and poor quality provision is a huge mark against the practice of franchise provision. Moreover, we’ve generally come to the conclusion that something needs to be done – and although an investigation will be helpful, that something needs to be fairly swift and concrete action.

1 month ago | wonkhe.com | David Kernohan |Mark Leach

It is commonly believed that, if we only had accurate up-to-date data on what skills employers were looking for, we could solve most of Britain’s productivity and social mobility problems in one fell swoop. There’s a kind of big state approach to collecting and sharing that knowledge we could follow – all kinds of architectures and data collections we could dream up to ensure that every course offered in every educational establishment was laser-focused on a particular industry demand.