The Wonkhe Show

This week on the podcast we examine the next phase of the Teaching Excellence Framework, as the Office for Students confirms its first decisions on a revised approach to assessing education quality. With all providers in scope, apprenticeships included, and ratings linked to future incentives, interventions, growth limits, and potentially funding, the stakes around TEF are set to rise.
Plus we discuss new findings from the Student Academic Experience Survey, with students reporting the highest levels of perceived value for money in a decade despite ongoing pressures from paid work, costs, and expectations. And we consider what long-term demographic change means for higher education, as projections point to a shrinking pool of 18-year-olds and a growing need to rethink participation, access, and financial sustainability.
With Paul Ashwin, Professor of Higher Education at Lancaster University, Rachel Macsween, Director of Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement for UK and Europe at IDP, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.
First round of consultation on future TEF sees movement on the implications of a Bronze award
Students are coping better because the system is demanding less
The Big Shortfall: Demographic downturn and the post-18 education system

This week on the podcast a third of the public now thinks a university education just isn't worth the time and money it usually takes, according to the latest British Social Attitudes survey – a share that has climbed steeply from 14 per cent in 2005.
We dig into what is driving the erosion of public confidence in higher education, how attitudes are pulling apart along political lines, and what it all means as the House of Commons Treasury Committee opens its inquiry into student loans. Plus a new report from the Lifelong Education Institute asks whether England will finally get serious about the "missing middle" at levels 4 and 5.
With Andy Westwood, Professor of Public Policy, Government and Business at the University of Manchester, Eve Alcock, Executive Director for External Affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

This week on the podcast we discuss the scale and shape of cuts across UK higher education, as new survey findings from Universities UK suggest institutions are considering mergers, groups, hiring freezes, redundancies, campus closures, and reductions in student support as financial pressures deepen.
Plus we discuss the latest international recruitment data, and we consider new Wonkhe research on belonging, friendship and student experience, asking whether universities are designing the structural conditions students need to form meaningful academic and social connections.
With Emma Maslin, Senior Policy and Research Officer at AMOSSHE, Neil Mackenzie, Chief Executive at Leeds Beckett SU, James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.
The international student boom is over – and the bust is being delivered by stealth
Friends, it turns out, have benefits
Are universities supporting students too much?
Managing immigration compliance risk through large deposits is immoral and probably unlawful
UUK: Two in five universities consider joining forces through 'multi academy trust' style models or mergers, new survey shows

This week on the podcast the final pieces of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement puzzle are falling into place, so what do the new regulations, the long-awaited transcript guidance and the list of 130 approved providers tell us about how flexible the future of student finance will really be?
Plus former health secretary Alan Milburn's review argues that too many young people are being pushed towards university rather than technical education as youth unemployment climbs to its highest level in over a decade, and our guests each pick a higher education story that has caught their eye.
With Anne-Marie Canning, Opportunity Mission Challenge Director at UK Research and Innovation, Johnny Rich, Chief Executive at the Engineering Professors' Council and Push, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.
The Times: Thousands of young unemployed are university-educated
Who gets to offer LLE modules?

This week on the podcast we talk a turbulent week in Westminster, as Labour’s poor performance in the national and regional elections intensifies pressure on Keir Starmer, and the King’s Speech leaves higher education waiting for a legislative vehicle for promised reform.
Plus we discuss the Education Committee’s call for a bespoke insolvency regime for English higher education providers, what should happen if a university goes bust, and new comparative research on the pressures facing higher education across Europe.
With Brooke Storer-Church, Chief Executive at GuildHE, Jonathan Simons, Partner and Head of the Education Practice at Public First, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.
What the Education Committee said about higher education funding
Euro visions: Key changes and wind machines won’t save the sector
King’s College London and Cranfield to merge