2,611 pieces
Newest first, since August 2013 · page 29 of 131
· Comment
Should students’ unions reach for the stars?
New student leaders are taking office in a context of tight finances and little bandwidth for change. Jim Dickinson and Mack Marshall have read their manifestos – and try to determine whether they should dampen down or d
With Mack Marshall
· Wonk Corner
Guess how many students will be hit by welfare reforms. You’ll have to – the government doesn’t know
When the government’s Welfare Bill was launched to the press, it said it would protect the most vulnerable and help households with an income boost.
· SUs · Members
Make the most of it
With Mack Marshall
· SUs · Members
There are some last-minute government amendments to the Renters Rights Bill
With Wonkhe SUs explainer
· Policy Watch
DfE sets out the detail on the free speech act
The government will partially implement the controversial Higher Education Freedom of Speech Act while stripping away its most contentious elements. Jim Dickinson and Michael Salmon find the devils in the detail
With Michael Salmon
· Wonk Corner
Twin rooms, shared bathrooms and communal kitchens – Ireland’s plan for student accommodation
I’m in Dublin this week doing a bit of training, and my eye has been caught by actual policy on student accommodation.
· Wonk Corner
Disabled students are almost twice as likely to have considered quitting
The big headline from this year’s HEPI/Advance HE Student Academic Experience Survey was really about time and money.
· SUs · Members
The proposed changes to the welfare system and why they matter to students and SUs
Proposed welfare reforms requiring disabled people to score higher in single activities rather than across multiple needs could strip vital support from tens of thousands of students, forcing many to choose between their
With Wonkhe SUs explainer
· Wonk Corner
Palestine Action will shortly count as terrorism
The Westminster government has announced that it intends to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
· SUs · Members
Proscription of Palestine Action: Implications for students and SUs
With Wonkhe SUs explainer
· Comment
Blurred lines: Has OfS misunderstood freedom of speech?
Reflecting on a case heard by the European Court of Human Rights, Jim Dickinson wonders whether OfS has got its interpretation of “freedom of speech within the law” right
· SUs · Members
Back to the classroom
With Mack Marshall
· Policy Watch
Will guidance on freedom of speech help the staff who fear physical attack for expressing their views?
Ahead of new duties going live on August 1st, the Office for Students has published regulatory guidance on freedom of speech. Jim Dickinson attempts to take it all in
· Wonk Corner
Faculties are where governance innovation could happen
Whatever happened to the faculty?
· SUs
Why do UK SU sabbs start (and finish) in the summer?
As Cosmic Ballet weekend arrives, Jim Dickinson asks whether it’s time to abandon the sacred summer-to-summer sabbatical cycle that nobody seems to have questioned for decades.
· SUs · Members
Parental advisory
With Mack Marshall
· Wonk Corner
How to assess anxious, time-poor students in a mass age
On Thursday, along with our friends at Counterculture, I was lucky enough to spend the day with a bunch of students’ union officers and staff playing our strategy game “New Rules”.
· Comment
The student experience is beyond breaking point
Student numbers over the decade are up 15.5 per cent, but their term time hours in employment are up 79.6 per cent. Reviewing this year’s Student Academic Experience Survey, Jim Dickinson works out who or what has got to
· Wonk Corner
With less than two months to go, OfS remains silent on free speech – but the legal cases keep coming
Given Secretary of State Bridget Phillipson has signed the commencement order, we’re now a mere 37 working days away from the new duties on universities in England to both “secure” and “promote” freedom of speech.
· Wonk Corner
Investing for the long term often loses out to pensioner power
The big theme this week was supposed to be investment for economic growth. But on today’s evidence, it seems to be much more about a U-turn on the winter fuel allowance.