To say it\u2019s been a busy couple of weeks in Westminster would be an understatement. We are not going to attempt to summarise all of the changes to the Conservative front benches here but, of note, is the appointment of Andrea Jenkyns<\/a> as Minister for Skills, Further and Higher Education, following the appointment (and swift resignation) of the Michelle Donelan as Secretary of State for Education.<\/p>\n Last week Universities UK and GuildHE members committed to \u201creversing pandemic grade inflation\u201d and returning to pre-pandemic levels of upper degree classification by 2023. This article on Wonkhe<\/a> asks if we can ever go back to less inflated grades.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Conservative leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch<\/a> has promised to tackle \u201cpointless\u201d and \u201ccostly\u201d degrees if she is chosen as the UK\u2019s next prime minister.<\/p>\n On Thursday Research England published its funding decisions<\/a> for university research knowledge and exchange, which included a 10% increase in quality-related research funding.\u00a0 The Times has the story<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a report from UKRI suggests that university spin-out companies are twice as likely to succeed if they receive Innovate UK funding. You can read the press release<\/a> on UKRI\u2019s website and The Times<\/a> also has the story.<\/p>\n The Department for Education has published its 2021\/22 student loan forecasts for England<\/a>. Headlines include that full-time UG higher education students who started in the academic year 2021\/22 are expected to borrow an average of \u00a342,000 over the course of their studies and only 20% of that same cohort are expected to repay their loan in full.<\/p>\n The Times Higher Education reports that record numbers of students are expected to start courses<\/a> in UK higher education in the next academic year, with 44% of 18 year olds applying through UCAS. The data also shows an increase in applications from students from disadvantaged neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n Last week saw the publication of the 2022 National Student Survey results.\u00a0 Advance HE have produced a useful summary<\/a> of the headlines, for those that do not want to plough their way through the full data set<\/a>. Bath was delighted to retain its position as the highest scoring institution in England<\/a>, and third in the UK overall, when compared to the 121 Higher Education institutions listed in the Guardian University Guide.<\/p>\nQuality and regulation<\/h2>\n
Finance and funding<\/h2>\n
Admissions and outreach<\/h2>\n
Student experience<\/h2>\n