As News Editor, Michael is responsible for Wonkhe’s news output. He is the main author of the Wonkhe Daily Briefing, and during his time in post he also launched the Friday Review and HE Influence. In the decade prior to joining Wonkhe in 2022, he worked in the UK higher education sector in a number of both academic and professional services roles.
Michael is also Editor of Research Agenda, a new publication from the team behind Wonkhe focused on research, innovation, science and technology.
196 pieces
Newest first, since August 2022 · page 1 of 10
· Wonk Corner
Study visa applications see a big fall in the key month of August
The top recruiting month for the 2026–27 academic year sees 20,000 fewer main applicants
· Wonk Corner
A bad Q2 for student visas
Home Office figures for April to June show both applications and issuances down
· Wonk Corner
The visa brake judgement sheds light on Home Office decision-making
And it shows that different countries could have been in scope – and still might be
· Analysis
Higher education would look very different if local areas were in control
Michael Salmon has read 39 LSIPs so you don’t have to – but you should, as they reveal plenty about what places want from their universities
· Policy Watch
UKRI’s new strategy: 60 day grant processing times, priority programmes, and devolved funding
Doing fewer things better and faster. James Coe and Michael Salmon summarise UKRI’s new strategy
With James Coe
· Long read
A gold standard apprenticeship system should mean expansion with universities and colleges at the centre
As the policy impetus strengthens for apprenticeships to support youth employment, Michael Salmon would like to see a collaborative sector response rather than a private provider free-for-all
· Wonk Corner
A funny way to work out who gets maintenance grants
Some light is shed on the process for working out which subjects might qualify for grants – and more – but it’s all still pretty opaque
· Wonk Corner
UKRI responds on research infrastructure
But Ian Chapman’s views on “woke university abstract experiments” remain elusive
· Wonk Corner
Which universities are offering apprenticeship units?
Seventeen, by my count
· Policy Watch
The new UKVI student sponsor regime goes live
The Home Office’s new system for monitoring visa compliance has come into effect. Michael Salmon walks us through the stricter process and speculates on the fallout
· Wonk Corner
Settlement changes would particularly affect academics, MAC suggests
With interesting timing, the committee’s new report says that making it harder to stay in the UK may especially drive away those working in HE
· Long read
Research, innovation, and the next Welsh government
Against a backdrop of the industrial strategy and UKRI’s new approach, Michael Salmon argues that perennial debates over Wales’ research system will come into sharpened focus under the next government
· Policy Watch
The Defence Universities Alliance opens for business
Applications are finally open for the Ministry of Defence-led network of universities. Michael Salmon puts it in its policy context
· Wonk Corner
What’s going on inside UKVI? (redux)
Delays are up, refusals are up, and the stated reasons don’t always make sense
· Policy Watch
Labour punctures management apprenticeships on a hunch about what’s best for employment
The latest levy reforms see a further focus on younger apprentices. Michael Salmon hopes it works but would like to have seen an impact assessment
· Comment
The MRes boom isn’t just an issue of visa policy
Rumours of Home Office action on the dramatic growth in research master’s provision continue to swirl. Yet for Michael Salmon there’s a wider question about where responsibility lies for postgraduate-level study
· Wonk Corner
The “visa brake” details
The Home Office has a new blunt instrument, and we should expect to see it used again in the future
· Comment
International recruitment and TNE are not a straight swap
It certainly sounds convenient for universities to have fewer international students in the UK and more via TNE. Michael Salmon goes out on a limb to explore why it might just possibly be more complicated than that
· Wonk Corner
Plaid Cymru would launch an HE review in its first 100 days
The party most likely to form Wales’ next government would look to kick off a funding review within the first few months of taking power
· Long read
Immigration policy and higher education staff
Michael Salmon explores why, whether technocratic or populist in character, UK immigration policy is set to continue its outsized role in the lives of international staff