David Kernohan

United Kingdom

Deputy Editor at Wonkhe

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Articles

Can we use LEO in regulation?

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

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has, perhaps, been the greatest beneficiary of the Department for Education’s decade-long experiment with Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data. It conducted the first analysis, and has been the most prominent user of this dataset ever since.
Why aren’t we addressing inequity of outcomes for postgraduates?

2 weeks ago | wonkhe.com | Katharine Hubbard |David Kernohan |Mark Leach

One of the major trends in UK higher education is the increasing number of postgraduate students. There are now as many postgraduate taught students graduating every year as there are undergraduates. However, the equity of postgraduate experience and outcomes is almost completely overlooked. Modern postgraduatesThe postgraduate population is large and increasingly diverse. Approximately 450,000 students complete a postgraduate qualification in UK higher education institutions every year.
Our future may depend on the humanities

2 weeks ago | wonkhe.com | Peter Sutoris |David Kernohan |Mark Leach

It’s natural that universities would contract. It is simply a market correctionAt least, that’s what a colleague recently said to me, referencing the earlier period of—some would say unfounded—growth in the UK’s higher education sector. But what we’re seeing now is not a neutral rebalancing of the books. It feels like a dismantling of the humanities, a retreat from the very fields of knowledge that hold the keys to our collective future.
Plotting the impact of an international fee levy

2 weeks ago | wonkhe.com | David Kernohan |Mark Leach

There’s not many in the higher education sector that would have welcomed any part of the recent immigration white paper. The reduction in the graduate route time limit would have been difficult enough. The BCA changes to duties on providers in order to sponsor international students will cause many problems. The possibility of financial penalties linked to asylum claims for those on student visas was as unexpected as it is problematic.
A new regulatory framework is more than Medr by numbers

3 weeks ago | wonkhe.com | David Kernohan |Mark Leach

Medr, the new-ish regulator of tertiary education in Wales, is consulting on its new regulatory system (including conditions of registration and funding, and a quality framework). You have until 5pm 18 July 2025 to offer comments on any of the many ideas or potential requirements contained within – there’s also two consultation events to look forward to in early June.
Different kinds of value, different kinds of higher education

3 weeks ago | wonkhe.com | Anna Vignoles |David Kernohan

If Lionel Robbins – author of the first major review of higher education in 1964 – could have glimpsed the future, he would no doubt have been pleased with much of what he saw. Back then, only about five per cent of young people attended university. His ambition was to extend opportunities to all who could benefit from a degree – and much of what he envisioned has come to pass.
Anna Vignoles

4 weeks ago | wonkhe.com | David Kernohan |Anna Vignoles

Anna Vignoles is the Director of the Leverhulme Trust. Previously was a professor of education and fellow of Jesus College at the University of Cambridge.
Access and participation is a political question

1 month 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.
HESA has published full student data for 2023-24

2 months 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.
Five regulatory process points you may have missed from the University of Sussex decision

2 months 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.