Jim is an Associate Editor (SUs) at Wonkhe and takes a particular interest in student experience, university governance, and regulation – and leads our work with students’ unions, including our Study Tours to Europe.
His career background is in support for student leadership. He has held senior roles at the National Union of Students – where he led on SU development, campaigns and political strategy – and was the CEO at the SU at UEA, providing strategic management for the union’s charitable and commercial vehicles as well as policy support for the elected student officers.
Jim has served as a governor and trustee in both further and higher education and the voluntary sector, and is a regular speaker at sector events and conferences. He is an obsessive fan of the Eurovision Song Contest, and dreams of visiting Moldova.
2,649 pieces
Newest first, since August 2013 · page 1 of 133
· SUs · Members
What SUs can learn from new OIA complaints about university halls
The OIA has published seven new case summaries on accommodation complaints – we set out what SUs can learn from them, and what the Code already says about each one
· Wonk Corner
Rising halls complaints and a missing Code
Complaints to the OIA about accommodation have been climbing fast – from 13 in 2022 to 55 in 2023 and 108 in 2025, with 95 already in by the end of October this year.
· Wonk Corner
Who counts and who pays if EU students get home fees
We’re only a fortnight away from Andy Burnham, Ursula von der Leyen, and António Costa getting together to sign a new deal with the EU.
· SUs · Members
Student poverty isn’t cutting through to MPs – here are 20 things SUs can tell them
With MPs focused on graduates’ repayments, we set out 20 things SUs can raise about the poverty of the students studying now
· SUs · Members
AI policies (and related misconduct policies) across the UK
We’ve read the misconduct procedures of all 140 UK universities and found a system that leans ever more on declarations, vivas and admissions – with fewer safeguards than SUs might expect
· SUs · Members
How much does it cost for students to park on campus?
We’ve tracked parking policy at 98 UK universities and found that who gets a permit matters far more than what it costs – we set out what SUs should ask
With Wonkhe SUs explainer
· SUs · Members
What SUs need to know about the detailed plans for the new TEF
The Office for Students has set out how the new TEF would work in practice – here’s what it means for the student submission, and the other big changes SUs need to know about
With Sharanya Sivarajah
· Wonk Corner
Four in ten students are living in poverty – but the government hides it
When John Healey stood up to deliver this year’s Budget, he worked his way through what felt like most of the electorate.
· SUs · Members
How to sign your SU up for RepPing and get your reps checking in
The RepPing pilot is now open. We set out how SU voice leads get dashboard access, get reps registered, and what they’re signing up to look after.
· Comment
Universities are rewriting contracts to enable cuts
A decade after the CMA’s warning, universities’ course change terms are getting wider – Jim Dickinson argues a model contract is now overdue
· Wonk Corner
Wales promised students a minimum standard of mental health support and they got a map instead
Three years after ministers promised Welsh students a baseline of mental health support wherever they study, Medr has published a framework.
· SUs · Members
Medr wants a Support Map in every Welsh university – SUs should help draw it
Medr’s new mental health framework creates no new rules, so we set out how Welsh SUs can use action plans and funding to shape it
· Wonk Corner
Chancellors stopped talking about universities once they lost control of them
Britain’s newest Chancellor delivered his first Budget today, and across a 7,000-word statement John Healey had one line to offer on universities.
· Comment
Who would dare to tell the truth about the TEF?
As OfS consults on a TEF that punishes rather than rewards, Jim Dickinson imagines a year as an SU officer at a struggling provider and finds honesty the worst policy
· Wonk Corner
Students sweep the populists from power in Serbia
Tonight in Belgrade, Aleksandar Vučić told officials that, based on a stratified sample, the Serbian Progressive Party had lost the country’s parliamentary election to a list of 250 candidates chosen by student plenums – open assemblies at each faculty where any student can speak and vote.
· SUs · Members
Get repping – a daily ping that puts reps back at the centre
Firms keep selling universities ways around reps – Jim Dickinson and Sharanya Sivarajah set out why RepPing does the opposite, and how to join in
With Sharanya Sivarajah
· Policy Watch
Wales picks benchmarks over bright lines to judge tertiary quality
As Wales chooses relative benchmarks over England’s absolute thresholds, Jim Dickinson unpacks what Medr’s proposed measures mean for universities and students
· Wonk Corner
Are there really more graduate NEETs than A-level NEETs
On Tuesday night, Burnham-whisperer and former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane gave the annual lecture at the Lifelong Education Institute.
· Wonk Corner
AI marking could cost universities their get out of jail free card
Set aside for a second the fact that when you ask students if academics should be able to use AI in marking, they tend to be vehemently opposed.
· SUs · Members
Turnitin’s licence pause gives SUs a year to ask questions
With Turnitin’s licence change postponed rather than dropped, Sharanya Sivarajah and Jim Dickinson argue SUs should push for a review of cost, evidence, and who owns students’ work
With Sharanya Sivarajah