Nona was a Policy Assistant at Wonkhe. She joined in February 2017 after undertaking research consultancy for a small and specialist arts institution. Prior to that, Nona was the General Secretary of LSE Students’ Union for two years, with a particular focus on equality and diversity in higher education and widening participation.
19 pieces
Newest first, since March 2017
· Comment
Students in real debt
Interest in student fee and maintenance loans, and perceptions around value for money in HE, should be informed by an understanding of the other – far more expensive – forms of debt that students use to fund their studie
· Analysis
Universities’ shame – unpicking the black attainment gap
Nona Buckley Irvine looks at the available data on race and student attainment, which shows shocking attainment gaps between black and white students in many universities across the UK.
· Analysis
A bruising boycott for the Russell Group
The NUS boycott of the NSS has been a concern for many institutions, but just how successful has it been? Nona Buckley-Irvine finds out.
· Analysis
Marking the TEF creative writing challenge
Was there a pattern to successful TEF written submissions? Nona Buckley-Irvine has taken a look at those which appear to have turned the TEF panel’s head.
· Policy Watch
Jo Johnson defends HE funding system in pre-summer speech
As Jo Johnson sets out his stall for one final time before parliament heads for its summer break, we look at what was and wasn’t announced in the speech to the Reform thinktank in London.
With Mark Leach and David Kernohan
· Analysis
What could TEF mean for international recruitment?
Some in the sector have claimed that TEF could harm UK universities’ international reputations. Nona Buckley-Irvine looks at those institutions which have the most to gain and lose from their outcomes.
· Analysis
TEF results – making sense of the London effect
London’s non-specialist universities have struggled in TEF, and could have done even worse were it not for the panel’s discretion. Nona Buckley-Irvine asks why students seem to have a much poorer experience in the capita
· Stacks
EXCLUSIVE – Wonkhe introduces the Outstanding Excellence Framework (OEF)
If we really need to measure excellence in the higher education sector, then we really should start with TEF Gold universities’ varied and bizarre ways of celebrating their achievements. We present the Wonkhe Outstanding
· Analysis
TEF results – the sector spin machine gets whiring
UK universities have become world experts in spinning a good story on a ranking, and TEF is no different. Nona Buckley-Irvine has been digging through the Wonkhe inbox for the sector’s first reaction.
· Data
POLAR opposites – LEO and the class effect on graduate earnings
We already know that a graduates’ social class origins have a big impact on their graduate earnings potential. This week’s LEO release gives us the opportunity to test this for different subject areas.
With David Morris
· Data
Why is there such a large gender pay gap for graduates?
Women graduates earn less than their male counterparts immediately after leaving university and in the vast majority of subjects. We pick this apart and suggest what role universities might have to play in fixing it.
With Catherine Boyd and Andrew McGettigan
· People
People in higher education: Amatey Doku
Nona Buckley-Irvine meets the new NUS Vice President for Higher Education to talk about TEF, the black attainment gap, working with the sector, and Cambridge.
· Analysis
Universities and #GE2017 – Cambridge
As the election draws near, Team Wonkhe is profiling the most interesting parliamentary constituencies with a big university presence. Nona Buckley-Irvine begins the series with Cambridge, an important Lib-Lab marginal.
· Policy Watch
Move over universities: the Conservative manifesto dissected
The Conservative manifesto confirms that universities do not sit easily with the Prime Minister’s political outlook. We break down the documents major proposals.
With David Morris and Mark Leach
· Policy Watch
New leaders, new approach: a watershed moment for NUS
Shakira Martin and Amatey Doku are the new faces of NUS for the higher education. Nona Buckley-Irvine explains what this means for the sector’s engagement with NUS and students’ unions.
· Analysis
Will T-levels follow the important role of BTECs in widening HE access?
BTECs have proven to be an essential part of the sector’s recent progress in widening access. Reforms to the qualification landscape should clarify how this continues, argues Nona Buckley-Irvine.
· Policy Watch
Reasons to be cheerful: postgraduate loans give enrolments a bump
Some good news at last, perhaps? Postgraduate enrolments in England are on the up, probably due to the new postgraduate loans. We go through what we do – and still do not – know.
With David Morris
· Policy Watch
Is Euratom the biggest Brexit science problem you’ve never heard of?
The UK’s continued arrangements for regulation of the nuclear industry are all up for question as we head towards Brexit. Nona Buckley-Irvine has looked at the far reaching implications for British science, colleges and
· Policy Watch
What Budget 2017 means for universities
There weren’t any rabbits pulled out of hats, but plenty of odds and ends for universities to consider in Philip Hammond’s first (and final) spring Budget.
With Ant Bagshaw