Great meeting today with representatives from the Early Years Sector at Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment We had a productive discussion about the challenges facing the sector and how we can work together to support early childhood education and care ahead of #Budget25

“Johnny’s Rich’s Graduate Employer Levy scheme is not as daft as it sounds,” writes Jim Dickinson in this astute analysis of Jacqui Smith's options for alleviating the funding crisis in England's #HigherEducation sector. https://lnkd.in/eCxWTAb9 Anyone who knows Jim or reads his excellent articles will know he's not exactly prone to praise. I remember John Blake once saying something like "If Jim called for lollipops to be handed out and then we started handing them out, he'd complain about the damage to everyone's teeth." While that's fair, it should also be pointed out that Jim is tireless in always challenging people to do better for students. So, coming from Jim, I take 'not daft' to mean that, at the very least, he thinks I'm on to something with my proposal, and possibly even that my idea may be radical but that its sound logic is also hard to deny. Which is true. In case you missed it, my #FairerFunding model of a graduate employer levy would save the taxpayer over £8Bn a year (London Economics Ltd), would see unis better funded, would drive quality in degrees for students, would mean a better balance between the ambitions of students and needs of the labour market, would drive wider access, and would give employers skin in the game of higher education (while potentially costing them less in the short to medium term). In polling, my proposal was also the most popular option among students (Higher Education Policy Institute) and broadly supported by the wider public (Public First). Not daft at all. And Jim's not the only one. The proposal is gathering all sorts of support lately. There's a long way to go before it's seen as mainstream thinking, but the same used to be said of banning smoking in pubs, the minimum wage and a national health service. Fairer Funding doesn't seem nearly as radical as it once did and who needs the mainstream when it patently isn't working? If you want to decide for yourself, this is a good place to start understanding what's being proposed: https://lnkd.in/eTXR4myg

🚨 UK Higher Education Crisis: Can Labour's Vision Prevail? 🚨 As Keir Starmer’s government takes the helm, our universities face unprecedented challenges. It's time for bold action to safeguard Britain's academic future! 🎓🇬🇧 6 Critical Issues Demanding Labour's Attention: 1️⃣ Funding Dilemma 💷 • Tuition fees under scrutiny • Public funding at crossroads 2️⃣ Mental Health Emergency 🧠 • 50% surge in counselling demand • Will Labour's NHS plans extend to campuses? 3️⃣ Graduate Employability Crisis 💼 • 52% of grads in non-graduate roles • Can Labour's industrial strategy bridge the gap? 4️⃣ Post-Brexit Academic Landscape 🇪🇺 • 40% drop in EU applications • Reviving international collaboration? 5️⃣ AI and Automation Challenge 🤖 • 30% of jobs at risk by 2030 • Preparing students for the future of work 6️⃣ Research Excellence at Risk 🔬 • Horizon Europe participation in limbo • Restoring UK's global research standing 🔥 The stakes are high. Labour's approach to these challenges could redefine UK's academic future and economic prosperity. 👥 What should be Labour's top priority for higher education? Share your thoughts and let's shape the future of learning! #LabourEducation #UKHigherEd #EducationReform #FutureOfLearning

To keep pace with the various cost cutting going on at UK universities, please refer to The University and College Union (UCU) branch at Queen Mary University of London, which is running a live update on UK university cuts, what it describes as “unconscionable vandalism” to a vital sector. Link to the live update is here: https://lnkd.in/eyxzHR85 With damaging UK newspaper headlines daily plus a government [& opposition] hell bent on reducing #immigration in the run up to the next #election, is there hope for #internationaleducation the #uk? Yes, but sector bodies & individual universities, must invest in data on international #graduateoutcomes, with which they can lobby government & avoid what would be a disastrous policy moves. Reducing #poststudywork & even capping #internationalstudent numbers at around 700,000, which would severely negatively impact both the reputation & finances of all UK universities! There have been warning bells since 2019! - #Internationalgraduates need more than #poststudywork #visas - 16 Sept 2019 https://lnkd.in/fdggtNk - After #Brexit, a fork in the road for UK higher education - 23 Nov 2020 https://lnkd.in/dgtTmBi - #Internationalstudents: UK must make hay while the sun shines - 18 Sept 2021 https://lnkd.in/eUiYfhcB - UK risks losing chance to be an ‘#outcomes destination’ - 16 April 2022 https://lnkd.in/eShNrQeR - Amid UK crisis, graduate #outcomes data even more critical - 22 Oct 2022 https://lnkd.in/e_WyS-92 - Is anyone listening? International #education is in a parlous state - 13 Dec 2022 https://lnkd.in/eAhKx6vb - Ticking time bomb of foreign students must be defused with data - 16 September 2023 https://lnkd.in/esqZ4AjE If the sector evidence now that inbound international #studentrecruitment is largely #immigration neutral, with by far the majority of #internationalstudents returning to their home countries & into successful #careers following their studies. MAC reports in the May, so if the sector commission Non EU #graduateoutcomes data in the Spring, they have a chance of submitting their findings before hand, universities would have a Plan B & #psw could receive a stay of execution? Asia Careers Group SDN BHD - Investing in International Futures AGCAS British Council BUILA Department for Business and Trade Department for Education Jisc Office for Students UCAS UKCISA Universities Scotland Universities UK Universities UK International

Should the UK wake-up from the turmoil that the Rishi Sunak Conservative government has inflicted on #highereducation and elect a #Labour Government in the General Election on 4 July, it could do no worse than follow the lead of its political cousins ‘down under’ and end the pointless ‘culture wars’ with universities. Perhaps working in partnership with the further, higher and vocational training sectors and having a plan that looks at tertiary education as a joined-up system that deals with the needs of Britain for the next two or three decades is the way to go. I report on some of the ideas coming out of the webinar hosted jointly by UK’s Higher Education Policy Institute think tank and the James Martin Institute for Public Policy, an independent, non-partisan policy institute based in Sydney, on lessons from the #Australian #Accord and their relevance to fixing and planning a system that can pick-up the needs of the country and many of the lost generation of young people not in education, training or work in Great Britain. It won’t be the first time we have looked to Australia for the way to mend our education system, even if we might want to avoid some of the mistakes they seem to making in regards to international students. Janet B. Ilieva Ruth Arnold Dr Vicky Lewis David Pilsbury University World News Diana Beech Andy Westwood Alistair Jarvis CBE Andy Howells Ann Pugh The Labour Party #highered Dave Amor Professor Wendy Alexander Kathryn Abell Professor Helen Bailey Anna Zvagule Eve Alcock Mary Curnock Cook Johnny Rich John McNamara Mark Hertlein Alan Preece Liz Jowett

No government of any colour is going too come to the rescue of beleaguered UK #universities, in short they got themselves into this mess & no politician is going to bail them out at the tax payers expense. We should all question how we got here? With record numbers of #internationalstudents & the UK emerging from the #pandemic relatively unscathed, those working in #internationaleducation are right to ask sector bodies & lobbying organisations purporting to act in their interests: ‘What went wrong?’ Murphy is right when he says universities must make themselves more relevant & directly link their contribution to economic well-being above all else. In an election year it’s worth reiterating what James Carville said in 1992 as Clinton’s advisor - “It’s the economy stupid!” Linking universities directly with employment & productivity is the way out of this mess & would negate the need for government to step in, something akin to “hell freezing over” in the current fiscal reality! See our article - “Are student’s costs or assets?” in Wonkhe. “#British universities were told to “try their very best” to break out of the #highereducation “funding box” & stop simply moaning to politicians that they needed more money without offering any reforms in return. Both The Conservative Party government ministers & their political opponents were “sick of universities all coming to say the funding system is broken”, the Universities UK (#UUK) annual Political Affairs in higher education 2024 conference heard. The all-day event on 20 June couldn’t have been timed better, coming midway between political parties in the UK publishing their manifestos and the British general election on 4 July 2024. Opinion polls currently predict The Labour Party a victory of historic proportions. Jim Murphy, a former secretary of state for #Scotland in the last Labour government told universities to try their very best “to escape from just being in the #highered funding box” for the new government. “You need to be in seven or eight cabinet ministers’ inbox trays because the decision on the future funding of the sector will not be taken by the #education secretary. True, they will have an important voice in it, but not the decisive voice,” he said. It will be a cabinet collective decision as to how to respond to the funding crisis in higher education, which will need to be agreed across government departments, & not just the Treasury, but also by trade and industry, health & other ministries.” Asia Careers Group SDN BHD - Investing in International Futures AGCAS British Council BUILA Department for Business and Trade Department for Education Higher Education Policy Institute Institute of Student Employers HM Treasury UCAS UKCISA Universities Australia Universities Scotland Universities UK International Universities Wales

#BudgetExpectations for the Education sector hold paramount importance as we approach Union Budget 2024-2025. As an Education Marketing Expert, delving into the historical context unveils a persistent discourse surrounding the elusive 6% of GDP allocation for public education – a goal set by the #KothariCommission in 1964-66. Despite its prominence in policy discussions, achieving this target has remained an unfulfilled aspiration for over six decades. Read My Article below 👇 #Education #HigherEducation #Budget2024 #EducationBudget2024

Sometimes what’s not said can be more intriguing than what is. Higher education hasn’t featured prominently in this year’s election and there doesn’t appear to be too much pressure on the “main” parties to explain their positions. Peeking into Labour’s 2024 manifesto, it is carefully guarded and vague when it comes to UK Universities’ funding model. Labour’s policy here could mean anything, but with the tight fiscal framework they have promised (😅), it would be difficult to see how taxpayers’ money could be used to reduce tuition fees; where higher priorities lie elsewhere. Is this a coded message that tuition fees need to and will increase to deliver the “secure future for higher education”? Could an increase in fees be combined with more lenient repayment terms to soften the blow? As Labour tend to do better amongst younger voters, it is no surprise that their actually policy isn’t explicitly set out.

Some initial thoughts from Bettina and I on the impact of Labour's win on the #HE sector, and next steps for both the government and universities themselves: https://lnkd.in/eX9ZaF6P

With the 2024 UK Elections only less than a month away, various parties have shared their respective visions and policies for the higher education sector. 🎓 Recommendations include industry partnerships, research and development investments, student support and access to international programs. 💡 Explore the details of each party's manifesto here: https://lnkd.in/gxDfXb7e #UKElection2024 #InternationalEducation #IntlEd #EducationPolicy