Is REF stressing you out? Don’t know your frameworks from your funding settlements? Nervous about what’s on the Horizon? Well don’t worry team Wonkhe is here to help. Join James Coe for an introduction to research policy with lots and lots of time for everything you have always wanted to ask (as long as James knows the answer)

#notallproviders, right? But concerns over problematic practices in franchised provision of higher education have been expressed this year from the National Audit Office, the Commons Public Accounts Committee, and as a result, the Office for Students. These point to a system that is vulnerable to exploitation by bad actors at the extremes, and even in the ostensibly legitimate end, realising generous profits from exactly the same unit of resource that universities argue no longer comes close to meeting the real costs of teaching. We’ll break down exactly what is going on, and what can be done about it.

Every policy agenda for higher education seems to demand a “whole-institution approach” to solving it, but what does that actually look like? Liz Thomas has been researching a whole institution approach to access and participation and will explore what lessons can be learned for other hitherto siloed and orphaned institutional agendas.

The director of the UCL Policy Lab, political strategist and speechwriter joins us to discuss how universities can use their research and insight more strategically to shape government thinking.

Bridget Phillipson has been clear in her communications to the sector that civic engagement and supporting local economic growth should be key priorities for universities. So what is our sector’s role here, and how can we make this a reality? Well the answers may lie in a recent essay collection published by the UPP Foundation in memory of former Sheffield Hallam University chair and public servant Bob Kerslake, who in 2018-19 chaired the UPP Foundation’s Civic University Commission. The collection includes around 30 essays from over 40 public intellectuals and sector leaders. During this session UPP Foundation executive chair Richard Brabner will be joined by contributors to the collection and others to assess Bob’s legacy, new ideas from the essays, and the role universities play in their local communities.

Over the past year or so, Wonkhe and student insight specialists Cibyl (a part of Group GTI) have partnered with students’ unions across the UK to find out what’s really going on both on campus and in students’ wider student lives. In this session we’ll explain some of our latest findings – focussed on students and employment. Who are they working for? How much time do they spend at work? What do they get out of it? Plus insights on food, belonging, wider time pressures and more.

Team Wonkhe digests the biggest stories of the moment and how the HE news ecosystem works.

The wonks of UCAS break out their spreadsheets to answer your questions about demand for HE, admissions trends, applicant demographics and experiences, and whatever else you want to know about the 2025 cycle. Find out more and vote for your favourite here: https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/your-chance-to-ask-ucas-anything/

Speaking to those who have been directly involved, we trace the story of the changes, challenges, and occasional chaos that have befallen the 2022-23 Student data collection. It’s the ultimate insider story, a tale of agency politics, project governance, and data definitions that has had a real and measurable impact on providers and regulation. And Data Futures is here to stay – we examine how sector data can move on from the data present.