Author
Lucy Hunter Blackburn
Contributing Editor, Wonkhe
Lucy Hunter Blackburn is currently an ESRC-funded postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh, with a special interest in student funding across the UK, particularly Scotland. She has been published in various places on this topic and blogs at www.adventuresinevidence.com. Her past professional roles include four years as Head of Higher Education in the Scottish Government and policy lead on student support for English and Welsh county councils.
13 pieces
Newest first, since June 2016
· Comment
The same but different – devolution and the response to Augar
Lucy Hunter Blackburn considers the implications for the devolved administrations arising out of the Augar review response from Westminster
· Comment
Student financial support in a time of social isolation
Lucy Hunter Blackburn on the potential for using the student loan system as a source of short-term financial relief over Covid-19
· Comment
Augar’s differential impacts across the devolved nations
Lucy Hunter-Blackburn foreshadows the implications of the Augar review across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
· Analysis
Fees and intragenerational unfairness
Lucy Hunter Blackburn takes issue with some of the assumptions about wealthy students in the headlines about the IF report on self-funding students
· Analysis
Unexpected peaks: widening participation in Scotland
It looked like good news for widening access in Scotland from the latest UCAS figures. Lucy Hunter Blackburn goes into the details.
· Analysis
Still no answers on Scottish student support
We’ve finally had a Scottish Government response to last year’s review of student support. Lucy Hunter Blackburn shares her exasperation that a big part of it seems to be another review of student support.
· Comment
How do Scotland’s students manage their money?
With reliable data on the Scottish student experience so hard to come by, Lucy Hunter Blackburn discovers illumination hidden in a DfE publication.
· Analysis
What happened to the independent review of student support?
The Independent Review was light in content – the Scottish Government response even lighter in consideration. What – if anything – will come of it? asks Lucy Hunter Blackburn.
· Analysis
Student debt provides a window on the state of the HE debate in Scotland
Where is the debate about student debt in Scotland? And why has what little there has been of it emerged so slowly? Lucy Hunter Blackburn has answers.
· Analysis
Has the SNP succeeded in ‘dumping the debt’?
Average student debt in Scotland, though still lower than other UK nations, is rising rapidly. Lucy Hunter Blackburn has taken a look at the latest Student Loans Company data.
· Analysis
How far is Scotland from meeting its 2021 widening access targets?
Scottish universities’ recent record on widening access puts them a long way off the Scottish government’s ambitious targets. Lucy Hunter Blackburn has broken down the data.
· Comment
Independence and union(s): Universities, Brexit and the future of the Scottish Funding Council
There has been a remarkable contrast between Scottish universities’ approaches to the independence and Brexit referendums. Lucy Hunter Blackburn asks whether continued constitutional strain will cost the sector its auton
· Comment
Scottish and English records on access should be compared
The access record of universities in Scotland has been disappointing, and the Scottish Government needs to stop sidelining the problem. Lucy Hunter Blackburn argues that despite that the comparison with England holds up,