Wonkhe SUs · Weekly webinars · 6 October 2026
Policy Radar – October 2026
The first Policy Radar of 2026–27 – the month in higher education policy, what “Burnhamism” means for universities, and Charlie Ball of Jisc on the graduate jobs market.
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Debbie McVitty chairs the first Policy Radar of the 2026–27 academic year, with David Kernohan, Michael Salmon, James Coe, Mack Marshall and Charlie Ball. It opens with a new Parish News segment on what is happening across Wonkhe, then Michael Salmon rounds up the policy news from the month just gone. The session then turns to Andy Burnham’s first months as Prime Minister, and how universities should situate themselves in a policy agenda built around devolution and regional growth in which higher education is mentioned but not a priority in its own right. James Coe looks at what that means for research and innovation, and the briefing closes with Charlie Ball, head of labour market intelligence at Jisc, in conversation with David Kernohan about graduate outcomes and a job market that has dominated the headlines over the summer.
What we cover
- Parish News – the Post-18 Project’s new value-added framework, The Collaboration Question on 3 November, Making Sense of Higher Education and a forthcoming series on disability inclusion
- The month in policy – MI5’s espionage alert on research collaboration with a Chinese institute, and the national research security strategy to come
- International recruitment – August study visa applications down by around 20,000, and a sponsor licence suspension at Bucks New University
- The Russell Group’s Libby Hackett on variable tuition fees, and the pushback from the rest of the sector
- Reviews of higher education in Wales and Scotland – the Welsh review chaired by Patrick Prendergast, and the funding gap identified by the Future Framework
- Burnhamism and universities – devolution as a precondition for growth, and why higher education is present in the agenda but not a focus of it
- The innovation landscape under Chris McDonald – devolving research and innovation powers, combined authority capacity, and the tension between narrower teaching and a wider economic role
- Graduate outcomes with Charlie Ball – the state of the graduate job market, AI and entry-level work, and what universities and graduates should do now