DEBATE: Should 18-year-olds be entitled to an extra year of free education after school, as the CBI suggests? March 1, 2019 Should 18-year-olds be entitled to an extra year of free education after school, as the CBI suggests? Matthew Fell, chief UK policy director at the CBI, says YES. As the world of work changes, people need to learn throughout their careers. The best companies help their people evolve through education. Colleges serve firms brilliantly, with tailored [...]
DEBATE: Should universities switch to only offering places based on actual rather than predicted grades? January 16, 2019 Should universities switch to only offering places based on actual rather than predicted grades? Dr Graeme Atherton, director of the National Education Opportunities Network and co-author of the report “Post-qualification application: a student-centred model”, says YES. Going to university is the biggest decision that most young people face. They deserve a university admissions system that helps [...]
DEBATE: With student debt now blowing a hole in the government’s budget, should tuition fees be cut? December 20, 2018 With student debt now blowing a hole in the government’s budget, should tuition fees be cut? Iain Mansfield, a former senior civil servant, says YES. This week’s decision to reclassify student loans has exposed the myth that tuition fees were the only way of making mass higher education affordable – they were never affordable, just off [...]
Our broken university system is setting future Britain up to fail November 30, 2018 Two news stories this week should strike terror into the hearts of anyone concerned with the British higher education system. First, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) released figures on the impact of a university degree on earning potential, and found that sometimes it just isn’t worth it. By the age of 29, men who studied [...]
Big ambitions and grand challenges: How the industrial strategy fares one year on November 29, 2018 It’s now a year since the industrial strategy was launched. Encompassing a 255-page tome, it laid five foundations for productivity: ideas, people, infrastructure, places and the business environment. It promised waves of sector deals between government and industry to de-risk investment and improve workers’ skills. Six such deals were announced in the first year, from automotive [...]
We are taking the first step to challenge university groupthink November 28, 2018 The world of academia may seem remote from everyday politics. But it would be wrong to conclude that the arguments made by university scholars do not matter for Westminster. In fact, the ideas that dominate in universities at any given time typically go on to strongly influence public debate and policy. This isn’t surprising, as most [...]
Two-year university degree plans to cut cost of tuition fees November 18, 2018 University students will save money on their degrees and enter the workplace sooner thanks to plans to roll out two-year courses, the Minister for Universities said today. The Department for Education said shorter university courses, also known as accelerated degrees, will be a boost both for students in higher education and for businesses looking to [...]
Pearson tells investors it expects to return to growth as it swaps textbooks for online classes October 17, 2018 Education publishing business Pearson said it is on track to return to growth this year, despite declining US demand weighing down on its finances. The education publishing business today said it is “set up well for the future” as it anticipates a return to underlying profit growth for 2018, sending shares up four per cent [...]
It’s time to throw young employees into the deep end September 28, 2018 It takes a village to raise a child – so goes a famous African proverb that describes the role of entire communities in nurturing a safe environment for a child to grow. To me, however, this is a maxim that should extend to a young person’s transition into adulthood, and how we continue to [...]
Universities and businesses must work together to engineer the recruits of the future September 25, 2018 From investment bankers to artisan bakers, employers are constantly on the lookout for bright young employees who are going to help their organisation thrive. Given the present uncertainty, it is more important than ever that British businesses have access to a robust recruitment pool. The media rhetoric of a growing skills gap suggests that [...]