The Higher Education Show

This week on the podcast we examine Universities UK’s plans to strengthen graduate employment, as its annual conference puts the future of universities and their contribution to jobs, innovation and communities in the spotlight.
Plus we discuss new research on what university closure actually feels like for students, and whether existing student protection arrangements are equipped to deal with the financial, academic and personal consequences. We also pick through some of the other higher education and research policy stories catching our attention this week.
With Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, Smita Jamdar, Partner and Head of Education at Shakespeare Martineau, and presented by James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and Research Agenda.
Will a graduate jobs roadmap show us the right way?
Student protection needs to start with what closure actually feels like

This week on the podcast we discuss what Andy Burnham’s new government could mean for higher education, following his first appearance before MPs and a statement setting out priorities on post-16 education, industrial strategy and the role of universities in economic growth.
With promises on devolution, a response to the Milburn review on young people not in education, employment or training, and even a commitment to “save Jodrell Bank”, what should the sector make of the direction of travel – and what might the autumn Budget and forthcoming ten-year plan bring?
Plus we discuss what students have been experiencing over the long summer break, drawing on lessons from students’ unions around the country, and look ahead to the big higher education policy questions of the year, including mergers and collaboration, developments in Scotland and Wales, and the future of quality.
With Hugh Jones, independent consultant and postcard wrangler, Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe.
Whose universities are they anyway?
Transformation in higher education cannot run on goodwill alone
There’s 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end that

This week on the podcast Team Wonkhe looks back on the year in higher education policy and politics – from the Post-16 Education and Skills white paper to the financial pressures pushing institutions towards closures, mergers and deeper collaboration.
Plus the team discusses the fallout from the Office for Students' High Court case against the University of Sussex, the shifting narrative around who goes to university and why, and the growing gap between students' financial pressures and what the system assumes about their time and money.
With Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, John Blake, Director of the Post-18 Project and David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

This week on the podcast the government's Strategic Priorities Grant allocation lands with a cash cut of just over £50m – and a much wider list of subjects losing high-cost teaching support, including the creative arts, computing and nursing.
Plus two competing views on student loans this week – the House of Commons Treasury Committee concludes the government has, in effect, mis-sold student loans, while the Post-18 Project's John Blake argues the loan book itself is an accounting fiction obstructing reform of university funding in England. And DK has your NSS headlines.
With Sarah Cowan, Head of Policy (Higher Education and Research) at the British Academy, Chris Shelley, Director of Student Experience at Queen Mary University of London and James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, presented by Mark Leach, Editor in Chief at Wonkhe.
I’ve stopped believing in Father NSSmas. Here’s why
Student loans can no longer be patched up. The system is rotten
The NSS shows us that students still seem to like higher education
The Silence of the Loans: How student loan book fictions prevent higher education reform
The Treasury committee proposes tinkering with student loans

This week on the podcast we ask why UKRI is spending more on PhD studentships while the number of funded starts falls. New analysis shows doctoral stipends have taken priority over the volume of studentships, with UKRI-funded starts 22 per cent lower than a decade ago – so do we have the right number of PhDs, and what does this mean for institutions, disciplines, UK science and academic careers?
The team also digs into a new Martingale Foundation report on the experiences of doctoral students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds, and the culture around "not belonging". Plus the Post-18 Project has launched a paper calling for a new Department for Skills, Research, and Prosperity, uniting higher education teaching and research, further education, apprenticeships and the industrial strategy around a presumption in favour of local decision-making.
With Eunice Simmons, Vice Chancellor at the University of Chester, John Blake, Director at The Post-18 Project, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.
A Ministry for Manchesterism: Rewiring Whitehall for locally-driven prosperity and change
Devolution is a means not an end for research
The doctoral experience remains shaped by socioeconomic status