Where are the alternative ideas?
HEPI’s director points out that the campaigns against the current student loan system have produced almost no worked alternatives — no costed graduate tax, no funded return to grants, no model that survives contact with the Treasury. That absence is why the system persists despite near-universal complaint, and it is worth knowing when the next round of the argument arrives.
International students deserve the same strategic care as widening participation students
A pro-vice-chancellor argues that universities plan carefully for widening participation students and treat international students as a revenue line, despite both groups facing the same practical barriers — money, belonging, navigating an unfamiliar system. It is an argument for support rather than recruitment, made in the month international applications hit a four-year low. Being an international student in the UK covers what to look for.
Queen’s Belfast cuts ties with its former chancellor over Epstein links
Queen’s University Belfast is severing its remaining links with George Mitchell, its former chancellor, over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, including removing a bust. Universities’ honorary titles and named buildings are governed by policies students can invoke, and several institutions have revised theirs in the past year.