Words by Matthew Smith, joint runner up in the CDBU Essay Prize Competition 2022. I am a historian, but I’ve been spending the last few months playing the lottery. Not a lottery that can put money in my bank account, but a lottery that can put money in my research account. That’s right, the funding...Read More
In September this year, The Council for the Defence of British Universities (CDBU) and Professor Paul Baines (University of Leicester) co-organised a cross-party policy workshop to discuss and debate the role of universities in building the society and economy of the future. After two years of global political, social and financial instability due to the consequences...Read More
Words by Lydia Dye-Stonebridge, joint runner up in the CDBU Essay Prize Competition 2022. I once worked for a large corporate, and they saw it fit to test my personality. The assessment plotted me against the Randian axes of dominance and compliance, influence and steadiness. My line of best fit demonstrated that while in work,...Read More
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
On the tenth anniversary of its formation The Council for the Defence of British Universities invites submissions of essays on key challenges facing Higher Education in the UK today and possible solutions to them. Authors may take a creative, research-based or autobiographical approach, drawing on international experience where appropriate. Up to three prizes of £1000 each...Read More
The Council for the Defence of British Universities invites applications to undertake research into any aspect of higher education in the UK, including governance, policy, curricula developments, and staff and student welfare and wellbeing. Comparisons between Britain and other countries are especially welcome. Successful bids for up to £7,500 will explain the rationale and methodology of...Read More
Review by Patrick Ainley, former professor of training and education at the University of Greenwich and regular contributor to the Post-16 Educator. The argument in this book is that mass higher education, for all its multiple and irreversible achievements, is experiencing a general crisis’ (150). It is well timed. 58 UK universities struck for three days...Read More
PRESS RELEASE: FEBRUARY 9, 2022 The Council for the Defence of British Universities is deeply concerned by reports of undue political involvement in the appointment of a new Economic and Social Research Council Executive Chair, as reported in The Financial Times and other outlets this week. It is currently understood that a candidate was recommended...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
Words by Peter Scott, CDBU Trustee, Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Studies at the UCL Institute of Education and former Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University. Universities are not popular – with politicians. They are very popular with the hundreds of thousands of applicants and their families, who now see ‘going to uni’ not just as an...Read More
