The Wonkhe Show

• AI and jobs, provider closure, UCAS figures

  This week on our final podcast before the summer break, we unpack the mounting panic about graduate jobs – is AI really to blame, or are today’s students simply paying the price for a sluggish economy, a stalling skills strategy, and shifting recruitment practices?Plus we discuss new figures from UCAS that show a record number of 18-year-olds applying to university, and we look at a major new report on how provider closures are affecting students, and what the sector should do next to avoid chaos when courses collapse.With Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, Head of Public Affairs at Jisc, Hugh Jones, independent consultant and higher education postcard maestro, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.You can subscribe to the podcast on Acast, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, RadioPublic, Podchaser, Castbox, Player FM, Stitcher, TuneIn, Luminary or via your favourite app with the RSS feed.UCAS applications and offer making by June deadline, 2025Student protection through market exit is not a compliance exercise Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Student experience, LLE, civic

  This week on the podcast we examine proposals for transforming the student experience as The Post-18 Project calls for a Student Rights Bill and a complete rethink of higher education’s structure.Could enshrining ten student rights into law and splitting faculties into research and applied institutions finally address the sector’s longstanding challenges?Plus we discuss Labour’s vision for the Lifelong Learning Entitlement as key details emerge on modular provision and approval processes, and ask whether universities are really retreating from their civic commitments as funding cuts bite.Doing better, getting better: Getting a grip on the full-time student experienceThe LLE finally gets a Labour overhaulTo make real progress on widening participation in higher education, we need a new mission Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• International, student leaders, metascience

  This week on the podcast we examine the latest attacks on international student recruitment as Policy Exchange calls for new restrictions and a £1,000 levy on international fees.Are universities really "selling immigration not education," and what would raising English language requirements to advanced level mean for the sector?Plus we discuss what incoming student leaders are promising in their manifestos – from subsidised laundry to lecture materials uploaded in advance – and ask whether the new metascience unit can deliver on its promise of a more efficient and transparent research funding system.With Duncan Ivison, President and Vice Chancellor at the University of Manchester, Vicki Stott, Chief Executive at the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.The attack lines on international students are built on shaky foundations – but won’t go away that easilyShould students’ unions reach for the stars?Metascience comes of age Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Industrial strategy, cashpoint colleges, social mobility

  This week on the podcast we examine the government’s new industrial strategy and what it really means for higher education – from regional clusters and research funding to skills bootcamps and spin-out support.Will the plans finally integrate universities into the UK’s economic future, or is this another case of policy promises outpacing delivery?Plus we discuss the franchising scandal and the damning case for urgent reform, and ask whether new research on social mobility challenges the sector’s claims about access, aspiration, and advancement.With Katie Normington, Vice Chancellor at De Montfort University, Johnny Rich, Chief Executive at the Engineering Professors’ Council and Push, James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.Higher education and the industrial strategy priority areasThe cashpoint campus comeback franchising, fraud, and the failure to learn from the FE experienceOn the move: how young people’s mobility responds to and reinforces geographical inequalitiesInequalities in Access to Professional Occupations Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Free speech guidance, R&D

  This week on the podcast we examine the Office for Students' new free speech guidance as controversial requirements prepare to take effect from August 1st. What do the "deeply disturbing" YouGov findings about academic self-censorship really tell us, and how should universities navigate campus protests and challenging research topics?Plus we discuss outgoing UKRI chief Ottoline Leyser's stark warning about "inevitable consolidation" in university research.With Mark Peace, Professor of Innovation in Education at King's College London, Arti Saraswat, Senior Policy Manager for Higher Education at the Association of Colleges, Livia Scott, Partnerships Coordinator at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.Will guidance on freedom of speech help the staff who fear physical attack for expressing their views?Prevent data, 2023-24We need a better quality of conversation about education and the skills agenda for the screen industries Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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