Learn stand-up comedy to stand out in the office August 22, 2019 For years, I have been phobic of public speaking. To be honest, the speaking didn’t even have to be that public – giving an update at a meeting could start a leg tremor that would take minutes to abate. It was a shameful secret, because as an otherwise confident PR I knew it would be [...]
University is not the be all and end all for success August 7, 2019 Exam results are looming, and with fears of failure and disappointment plaguing young people up and down the country, it’s about time we make students in the UK more aware of the realities of our changing professional landscape. The fact of the matter is that a piece of paper should never and will never define [...]
London needs a new type of university with a new degree July 22, 2019 London is fortunate to have some of the world’s best universities. Within a mile or two of the City are four of the top 40 universities in the world. For decades, recruiters in big firms have taken a university degree as a signal for a graduate’s ability to master a subject, write well, and fit [...]
Young voters today care about far more than just tuition fees July 18, 2019 Student debt is, once again, pledge fodder as politicians jostle for power. Conservative leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt has promised to wipe student debt for successful entrepreneurs and reduce interest on loans, the Brexit Party has pledged to remove and reimburse interest altogether, while Labour has long vowed to scrap tuition fees entirely. It’s not hard [...]
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 [...]