2,649 pieces
Newest first, since August 2013 · page 4 of 133
· Policy Watch
Student loans are still broken and unfair
The government’s reply to the Treasury Committee’s inquiry on student loans accepts some wording changes and rejects the rest. Jim Dickinson finds it answering a fairness question with a solvency one
· Wonk Corner
Someone has to make housing a condition of recruiting students
In the i Paper today, Martha from Essex got into Exeter through clearing, and then had to spend a couple of weeks in an Airbnb while she tried to find accommodation.
· Wonk Corner
UUK’s work experience target forgets that most students already have some
Am I really reading a report on universities offering work experience that has managed to involve 30 universities, 200 employers and business groups, a poll of 500 employer senior leaders, but not a single student?
· SUs · Members
You can’t say that
With Sharanya Sivarajah
· Comment
OfS wants students to complain more. AI is about to oblige
What happens when students can produce a lawyer’s letter in an afternoon? Jim Dickinson weighs up whether the sector closes its complaints gap or simply promises less
· SUs
What happened at Senate Summit 2026?
Jim Dickinson, Sharanya Sivarajah and Mack Marshall round up the first Wonkhe SUs Senate Summit – assessment, employability, rights and Europe, session by session
With Sharanya Sivarajah and Mack Marshall
· SUs · Members
Course correction
With Sharanya Sivarajah
· Analysis
Whose universities are they anyway?
As Andy Burnham rails against the privatisations of the past, Jim Dickinson reviews the corporate takeover of a 164 year old university in Lincolnshire
· SUs · Members
What’s in Scotland’s Programme for Government for students?
What’s in Scotland’s Programme for Government for students?
· SUs · Members
A round up of student influence, voice and representation policies from our eurotours (2026 update)
Jim Dickinson updates Wonkhe’s compilation of student representation and voice practice gathered from SU study tours across Europe, with a shift away from course-level reps toward school and faculty structures.
With Wonkhe SUs explainer
· Wonk Corner
A float against a tariff that doesn’t pay the bills
Some good news.
· Comment
Are students as lucky to be here as they feel?
Jim Dickinson tracks how scarcity claims, ceremonial offer letters and gift-framed scholarships convert an ordinary purchase into a debt of gratitude students feel they can’t call in
· Comment
There’s a student-shaped hole in Scotland’s funding gap. Here’s how to fill it
Scotland’s HE funding gap is £200m, but there’s a huge gap for students too. Jim Dickinson has a think about how to fill them.
· SUs · Members
Credit where it’s due
With Sharanya Sivarajah
· Wonk Corner
Are OIA decisions on free speech compatible with OfS guidance?
It was January 2025 when then Secretary of State Bridget Phillipson explained the new government’s approach to the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.
· Comment
There’s 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end that
Sharanya Sivarajah and Jim Dickinson explain what they learned on a summer of SU training visits, where students patiently patched up the gaps their universities left behind
With Sharanya Sivarajah
· Wonk Corner
Another deep unfairness in devolved student loans policy
Not another one!
· Wonk Corner
How Westminster got away with slashing “devolved” spend on higher education
Back in 1990–91, Scotland’s universities received 14 per cent of the regular annual grant paid to Great Britain’s universities.
· Analysis
Going deeper: Student loans, public expenditure and the devolution funding gap
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland record far less student-loan expenditure than a population share of England’s would suggest. Jim Dickinson finds the difference lies in financing architecture, not funding
· Comment
The Treasury is bankrupting three nations’ universities
With funding reviews underway in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Justine Pedussel and Jim Dickinson worry none will examine the hidden accounting rules driving the crisis
With Justine Pedussel