As you are aware, the REF results came out this week (for anyone needing a quick refresh, here is some background on the REF<\/a> or you could try this quick explainer<\/a> from Wonkhe). You can watch the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)\u2019s message to the University on the results here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overall results from the REF are available here<\/a>. Overall, 41% of outputs were classed as 4* (world-leading), with 43% internationally excellent (3*). When it comes to commentary you are spoiled for choice: for starters you could try THE, which lead with<\/a> the significant overall increase in output ratings and suggested<\/a> that the \u201cgolden triangle\u201d of London, Oxford and Cambridge looked set to lose some of its share of funding; and Wonkhe, which has started to think about what the results might mean<\/a>.<\/p>\n OfS has published its latest statistics<\/a> on changes in graduate attainment between 2010\/11 and 2020\/21, and has commented on the \u201csustained unexplained increase in the proportion of student receiving a first or 2:1 over the past decade\u201d. It has also set out the action it is taking to tackle grade inflation<\/a>. The Minister has called for \u201cnorm-referenced grades\u201d, with the norm set at pre-pandemic levels. The OfS position has not gone down well within the sector, as this BBC article<\/a> explains.<\/p>\n The Queen\u2019s Speech<\/a> included plans for a Higher Education Bill to implement the entitlement to lifelong learning in England and \u2013 subject to consultation \u2013 introduce a minimum entry requirement and student number controls. Meanwhile, Universities UK published its response<\/a> to the government consultation on these reforms, arguing that both the proposed student number controls and minimum eligibility requirements for loans would worsen existing inequalities. Similarly, the Sutton Trust, said in its response<\/a>, that minimum eligibility requirements were a \u201cblunt tool which may especially impact lower income learners\u201d. The Minister did an interview<\/a> on LBC responding to the more critical of the published responses.<\/p>\n Advance HE has published a briefing note<\/a> on the Queen\u2019s speech for governors in higher education.<\/p>\n The Leverhulme Trust has expanded the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships scheme<\/a> to make specific provision for students from low-income households and black students.<\/p>\n The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has published details of its final pay offer<\/a>, with proposed increases ranging from 3% for the highest paid to 9% for the lowest paid.<\/p>\n The government has re-published the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill<\/a> as part of this Session\u2019s Queen\u2019s Speech, and Wonkhe will tell you how the impact assessment has changed<\/a>. A report<\/a> from the King\u2019s College London Policy Institute has found that 38% of UK articles about free speech mention universities, showing the continuing importance of this issue within the sector.<\/p>\n The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester has published a new report<\/a> on air travel by academics post-pandemic, which concludes that urgent, deliberate action is needed to \u201cdecouple aeromobility from academic work\u201d if the higher education sector is to embed more sustainable ways of working. At Bath, the Climate Action team published a blog post<\/a> about how changes in travel habits can have a significant impact on carbon footprint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Research As you are aware, the REF results came out this week (for anyone needing a quick refresh, here is some background on the REF or you could try this quick explainer from Wonkhe). You can watch the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)\u2019s...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1542,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/council-digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Quality<\/h2>\n
Access and participation<\/h2>\n
Finance<\/h2>\n
Freedom of Speech<\/h2>\n
Climate<\/h2>\n