Introducing a blog by John Holmwood A lot of attention within the Higher Education sector is currently directed at the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill going through Parliament. Concocted during Gavin Williamson’s period as Secretary of State for Education, it was widely lobbied for by right-wing think tanks, such as Policy Exchange. Their report...Read More

Words by Dr Heather McKnight, founder of the social enterprise Magnetic Ideals and Doctor of Legal Studies. In 1970, the Commission on Academic Freedom and the Law (CAFL) released research exposing changes in how universities were using the law: a discontinuity that both marked and reflected the historical moment. The joint commission between the National...Read More

Top universities including Durham, York and Manchester have employed specialist investigators to deal with a rapid rise in reported sexual assault cases, with some paying investigators up to £10,000 per case. This follows the publication of a new anonymous testimonial site, Everyone’s Invited, which has amassed nearly 50,000 testimonies of sexual assault, harassment and misogyny...Read More

Words by Liz Morrish, independent scholar.  In August 2020, the UK think tank The Policy Exchange produced a report on Academic Freedom in the UK, alleging a chilling effect for staff and students expressing conservative opinions, particularly pro-Brexit or ‘gender critical’ ideas. This is an issue that was examined by a 2018 parliamentary committee on...Read More

Words by Andrew M Colman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leicester. The UK Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, wrote to universities in October 2020 directing them to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism by Christmas, and warning that any universities refusing to comply could face cuts in funding. Only...Read More

As the world welcomes a new year, the issues that the coronavirus pandemic has inflicted on higher education remain. Students across the UK have begun rent strikes, university staff face the prospect of returning to unsafe campuses, and debates about the value of online learning rage on. Calls for students to get rent rebates at...Read More

Words by Eric Lybeck, Presidential Academic Fellow at the Manchester Institute of Education. Yesterday, Policy Exchange published a report on academic freedom in British universities drawing on a flawed survey with inconclusive results. This did not stop major newspapers from declaring the report evidence of the “epidemic of left-wing bias” in academia. Equally, it is...Read More

The pensions dispute rumbles on, the OfS admits to making a mistake over the Toby Young appointment, and the OU vice-chancellor faces a vote of no confidence   Universities give out unconditional offers like candy, say head teachers The Times, 31/03/2018, Rosemary Bennett Universities have been told to stop dishing out unconditional offers “like candy”...Read More

The newly-published regulatory framework runs to 167 pages – but still leaves many questions unanswered, writes Professor GR Evans At last the Office for Students (Ofs) has published its Regulatory Framework. It will be laid before Parliament but essentially this is subordinate legislation of the Henry VIII kind. There will be no automatic debate or...Read More

Professor Jo Wolff goes hunting for positive remarks from Jo Johnson about universities – and offers some advice to successor Sam Gyimah ‘Farewell unis and science’, tweeted Jo Johnson, channelling Private Eye’s E.J. Thribb. Academics were astonished by such an honest statement of government policy. Relief flooded in when it was realised that it was...Read More