We need to stop the obsession about whether more or fewer people are going to university.
New reforms will mean academic institutions change their focus to getting on rather than just getting in.
It is a litany of uncomfortable and inconvenient truths. Obsessing over these does little to spur progress.
White British boys face steep challenges to access – but some institutions seem too focused on ‘white privilege’ to notice.
Since 2010 the Tories have helped to drive forward transformational change – but Labour’s half-baked plan to abolish tuition fees could put it all at risk.
Plus: Unsung Conservative heroes. The Centre for Rocket Studies. And: why do we need the traditional, three-year University course?
From schools at one end to the job market at the other, many of the driving forces behind the campus mental health crisis aren’t vice-chancellors’ to solve.
For many, it’s stressful, lonely and unhappy – and occasionally deadly. Students need more help them with their mental health.
The new Office for Students must lead in this. There must be sanctions from the new regulator for those universities who are failing in this regard.
Our Party is bringing new rigour to Higher Education, but we have much more to do to win the support of young people on education policy.
When a generation that grew up online starts seeking public office, it won’t just be journalists who have a trail of unguarded comments that anyone can find.
“As far as I am concerned if he were to continue to use that sort of language and talk in that sort of way he would no longer be in public office.”
I have written to university leaders, and will ask the Office for Students to investigate whether official responses to hateful conduct or open support for Hamas have been appropriate.