2,606 pieces
Newest first, since August 2013 · page 7 of 131
· SUs · Members
How (and why) to respond to DBT’s consultation on zero hours contracts
Jim Dickinson sets out what the Department for Business and Trade’s consultation on zero hours contracts covers, and how SUs should respond on behalf of students in casual work.
With Sharanya Sivarajah and Wonkhe SUs explainer
· Analysis
Earning while learning? You’ll be lucky
The Employment Rights Act 2025 promises to end one-sided flexibility – but Jim Dickinson finds the framework hasn’t reckoned with term-time working, seasonal employment, or the structural realities of student labour
· Wonk Corner
Have you considered New Zealand?
Matching graduates with labour market demand is a notoriously tricky thing to do if you try.
· Wonk Corner
Are students at work (both home and international) driving NEET numbers up?
So that Alan Milburn report.
· Wonk Corner
Spain moves to make student rights even stronger
Last time we looked, Spain was already top of the charts.
· SUs · Members
The safety net has holes in it
With Mack Marshall
· SUs · Members
Renter’s Rights Act: What should have happened in May?
Jim Dickinson sets out what student tenants in England should already have received under the Renters’ Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May 2026.
With Wonkhe SUs explainer
· SUs · Members
How to get involved in the Advance HE/Office for Students research on AI
Jim Dickinson flags Advance HE and the OfS’s research project on artificial intelligence in higher education, noting that the registration and survey windows have since closed while the report remains pending.
With Mack Marshall and Wonkhe SUs explainer
· Wonk Corner
Is Burnham about to fall headfirst into the education policy trap?
Pop quiz, hotshot
· Comment
Friends, it turns out, have benefits
Course friends and off-course friends do fundamentally different things for students. Jim Dickinson and Mack Marshall examine what that means for belonging strategy – and for the students the headline numbers miss
With Mack Marshall
· Wonk Corner
Are universities supporting students too much?
Fair play to Kevin Shakesheff.
· SUs · Members
New research on students and free speech: What SUs need to know
Jim Dickinson reports on OfS-commissioned YouGov research into how students perceive freedom of speech, and what it tells SUs beyond the regulatory framing.
With Mack Marshall and Wonkhe SUs explainer
· Wonk Corner
The free speech problem is (still) a crisis of confidence
There is a version of the campus free speech story that the political movement behind the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 has told for a decade.
· Wonk Corner
Managing immigration compliance risk through large deposits is immoral and probably unlawful
Story goes that a student in Pakistan turned up to an agent’s office with a gun, demanding a deposit refund from a UK university.
· SUs · Members
The Home Office owes international students £170 million. Here’s how to get it back
Jim Dickinson explains how international students were overcharged on Student and Child Student visa fees between late 2023 and April 2026, and sets out how they can claim back a share of the roughly £170 million owed.
With Wonkhe SUs explainer
· SUs · Members
Comparing the financial help that universities give to students (In England)
What do providers spend on student financial support? Jim Dickinson has the comparison data you need
With Wonkhe SUs explainer
· Wonk Corner
While Bridget Phillipson is in a letter writing mood…
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has referred the early years childcare market to the Competition and Markets Authority, asking it to examine hidden charges that are undermining the government’s funded hours offer.
· Comment
Cash help for students is falling fastest where it’s needed most
With universities cutting bursaries and hardship funds as budgets tighten, Jim Dickinson finds support shrinking fastest, in real terms, exactly where students need it most
· SUs · Members
(Not) only the lonely
With Mack Marshall
· Comment
The international student boom is over – and the bust is being delivered by stealth
With refusal rates spiking, withdrawals surging, and universities pre-emptively retreating from high-risk markets, Jim Dickinson finds an international contraction engineered through plumbing rather than policy