Subscribe

Briefings

Daily BriefingEvery weekday · by 8amHigher education's essential morning read.Monday BriefingWeekly · MondaysThe full week ahead in HE policy.Friday ReviewWeekly · Friday lunchtimesWhat you need to know about the week just gone.

Newsletters & more

HE InfluencePolitics and policy and the way the sector is seen.HE CounselNewGovernance, law and regulation for anyone following legal developments.Policy RadarThe monthly live policy briefing – watch live or catch the replay on the portal.

Services

Wonkhe PassFull access for your whole institution.Wonkhe SUs PassFor students' unions – briefings, recordings and training.Free briefingThe Monday Briefing, Lite edition – free.
About Us+
About WonkhePeopleOur partnersWrite for WonkheContact us
Events
Latest+
Explore the whole archiveDataWonkhe researchLong readsAnalysisCommentWonk Corner
Podcast
SUs
Friday 25 September 2026Home of the higher education debate

Copyright © 2026 Thesis House Ltd.

Wonkhe is published by Thesis House Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no. 08784934), 31–35 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TE.

  • Moderation policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Podcast: Racism, grad premium, criminals, VFM

This week on the podcast we dive into the EHRC’s report on racism, scrutinise the graduate premium, and chat about value for money

This article is more than 6 years old

Podcasts|25/10/19
Team Wonkhe

Team Wonkhe

News, analysis and explanation of higher education issues from our leading team of wonks
Tags
  • Wonks
Team Wonkhe
News, analysis and explanation of higher education issues from our leading team of wonks

This week on the podcast we dive into the EHRC’s report on racism at British universities, scrutinise HESA’s report on the graduate premium, discuss the new initiative to help people with criminal convictions access HE and examine HEPI’s report into education in prison.

Plus there's a chat about quality and value for money, a cracking correlation quiz and Hidden History looks at "free" Masters degrees at Oxford.

With Richard Eyre, Chief Programmes Officer at the Brilliant Club; Nick Hillman, Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute; and Debbie McVitty, Wonkhe’s Editor.

Items this week

  • EHRC Report
  • HESA report on the graduate premium
  • Unlock/HEPI report
  • Quality and Value for Money (UUK and OfS)

Yes, but does it correlate?

DK has whiled away a happy hour this week playing with the new Universities UK guidance on presenting institutional financial information to students. There's a number of categories in each pizza graph, and UUK specifies the contents of each category quite carefully. He's plotted the "government research income" category, against the "teaching and research expenditure" category. But is there a correlation?

Full screen

Yes, there is - a surprisingly robust r squared of 0.94, although this dips to a less startling 0.54 if you remove the Russell Group. Goverment research income covers QR and related funding, alongside research council income, central government, local authorities, health authorities, and tax credits. Teaching and research expenditure includes academic staff costs and other related expenditure.

He's added total income as the size of the marker. Data is taken from the HESA finance record, and is UK wide, and where the data doesn't exist he's not plotted it.

To get involved in the Wonkhe Show, email team@wonkhe.com

Related articles

Podcast: International recruitment, graduate social mobility

Team Wonkhe | Podcasts | 25/09/26

Podcast: Loans, Free speech

Team Wonkhe | Podcasts | 18/09/26

Podcast: Future jobs, uni closures

Team Wonkhe | Podcasts | 11/09/26

Podcast: Burnham, SUs, Year ahead

Team Wonkhe | Podcasts | 4/09/26

Podcast: The end of the year show

Team Wonkhe | Podcasts | 17/07/26

Podcast: Funding, student loans, NSSmass

Team Wonkhe | Podcasts | 10/07/26

Comments

New comments will come back with sign-in later this year.