ACCESS, WIDENING PARTICIPATION AND INCLUSION
A report by the Sutton Trust has found that access to postgraduate courses by students from working class backgrounds has improved, with the proportion of working class graduates progressing to taught masters doubling from 6% to 12.9% between 2013/14 and 2014/17. However, the insufficiency of loans available may still present a financial barrier to further study. Meanwhile, the House of Commons Education Select Committee has published a report that concludes that white working class pupils have been let down by the education system: the report’s comments on the term “white privilege” have proved controversial.
OfS has launched a review of the use of inclusive assessment practices that disregard poor spelling, punctuation and grammar.
STUDENT ISSUES
The Student Academic Experience Survey, conducted by HEPI and Advance HE, has found that 44% of students surveyed think they received poor or very poor value from their experience in higher education this year: just 1 in 4 rated their experience good or very good. The three top areas identified for improvement were assessment and person, increasing in-person and campus activities and communication. Meanwhile, a report by Accenture and Cibyl presents a bleak picture of student mental health, with 4 in 10 reporting a deterioration in their mental health since starting University.
QUALITY AND STANDARDS
The Secretary of State told the House of commons he would introduce post-qualification admissions whether the higher education sector supported it or not.
The Secretary of State has also made a speech calling upon universities to uphold academic standards – as ever Wonkhe has done an analysis. Meanwhile, some thought is being given to different forms of assessment post-pandemic – THE is one of the outlets with a story on this.
REGULATORY AND GOVERNANCE
The Department for Education has published training materials for HE staff covering the duty of care for students and staff under the Prevent strategy.
HARASSMENT
The House of Commons Library has published a useful research briefing on the issue of sexual harassment in education.
POST-PANDEMIC WORKING
PwC has published an article based on its Future of the Office survey, which considers the issue of hybrid working.
Respond
