COVID
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021 passed a vote in the House of Commons on Thursday. The Regulations don’t do much to facilitate a full national return to campus after Easter.
Wonkhe has an interesting article on innovative approaches to placements in the midst of a pandemic.
RESEARCH FUNDING
UKRI has written to universities to explain the next stage of its review of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) funding. The Science Minister has also answered a question on this in Parliament, and UCU has written to the Chancellor to express its opposition to the cuts in funding.
As part of the government’s war on red tape, BEIS has announced an independent review into research bureaucracy, which will look at, amongst other things, practical solutions to bureaucratic issues faced by researchers.
ADMISSIONS
The House of Commons Education Select Committee has written to the Secretary of State to express concerns that the alternative arrangements for awarding exam grades this year risk worsening existing grade inflation.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
A new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that most graduates earn higher salaries than their non-graduate peers, but that there are big differences by socioeconomic background and ethnicity, with black graduates in particular earning less than white graduates. A Wonkhe analysis shows that Department for Educational longitudinal data confirms this conclusion, and a Social Market Foundation report has further evidence of this trend in London, too. Meanwhile, a Royal Society report on diversity of students and staff in STEM suggests that people from black backgrounds have poorer degree outcomes and lower rates of academic career progression than people from other ethnic groups.
GOVERNANCE
One for the geeks: the European University Association has published the first in a series of briefings on governance in European universities.
Respond
