David Kernohan
@dkernohan.bsky.social
Him off of @Wonkhe. Sky Cards Rare Master.
What does our population, and our sector, look like in 2070? Here's four demographically-grounded scenarios.
Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · 2w agoNEW on Wonkhe: Higher education faces a demographic cliff through to 2040. David Kernohan sets out four possible futures of higher education in a shrinking Britain buff.ly/aBZWqn6
NEW on Wonkhe: Higher education faces a demographic cliff through to 2040. David Kernohan sets out four possible futures of higher education in a shrinking Britain buff.ly/aBZWqn6
So Ed (2026-) and David (2007-2010) are not the only brothers both to have served as foreign secretary. The first (okay, half-brothers)? Austen (1924-29) and Neville (1940) Chamberlain. Bound to come up in a pub quiz somewhere!
Hearing the UCAS course list will also be released as structured open data in the epoch-defining anouncement.
James O'Malley@jamesomalley.co.uk · 2w agoSurely just minutes now until Andy Burnham's 'Bank of England moment', in which he'll announce he's releasing the Postcode Address File as open data.
Very much here for the @qaa.ac.uk Quality Code advocacy. It's what happens when you ask people who work and study in universities to come up with a quality assurance model.
Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · 2w agoNEW on Wonkhe: "Parity of esteem" for college and university-based HE comes from a shared quality architecture and governance framework, not vague policy aspirations, argue Nic Beech and Rebecca Parks buff.ly/bqeGbW9
NEW on Wonkhe: Michael Salmon has read 39 LSIPs so you don’t have to – but you should, as they reveal plenty about what places want from their universities buff.ly/QwWB8Oq
I get that some people might not know that in the UK we vote for a local representative not a PM, but I was not expecting a former Professor of Politics to be among them.
Just to add to the discourse of the day - British Steel has about 7k employees overall - roughly the same size as the University of Southampton (if the UoS had an electric arc furnance). The Scunthorpe works employs 2700 - pretty much the University of Brighton.
Declining pupil numbers (explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statist...) will be a huge deal for HE in a few years? A few weeks back I pulled out some of the medium term implications: post18.co.uk/big-shortfal...
The Big Shortfall: Demographic downturn and the post-18 education system
New thinking, ideas & policy solutions for post-18 education in the UK
post18.co.uk
The line on recent events at the University of Greater Manchester is quite the response :-D
UCU Commons@ucucommons.org · 3w agoCommons newsletter #22! Feat: @matildaf.bsky.social on Durham Miners' Gala, @hagenilda.bsky.social on Anticas committee; @bparsia.bsky.social on TPS news; @rotster.net on both cuts to strategic priorities grant AND the Uni of Greater Manchester arrests #UCU #UKHE ucucommons.org/ucu-commons-...
There's some black humour in that this is more than the initial fine, but mostly I'm just sad that the taxpayer needs to pay two-thirds of a million pounds so that OfS could learn how to run investigations fairly. wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
OfS sets aside £660k to pay Sussex costs
Everything we spotted in the annual report and accounts
wonkhe.com
Last week on Wonkhe: The 2026 NSS results bring evidence that most students are happy with their academic experience, and particularly appreciate the skills of their academic staff
The NSS shows us that students still seem to like higher education
The 2026 NSS results bring evidence that most students are happy with their academic experience, and particularly appreciate the skills of their academic staff
buff.ly
A classic of the genre. Local museum cancels falconry display event because of "low numbers" (literally says that in the article!). Local vegans send the BBC a press release claiming it was cancelled because they wrote a letter. Headline: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Darlington birds of prey event cancelled after vegan groups' concern
Hopetown Darlington stops the event, which had been planned for 31 July.
bbc.co.uk
The treasury discount rate: does a baked-in predisposition to early returns actively harm the way we consider long-term benefits from HE. More shameless clickbait from me on Wonkhe. wonkhe.com/blogs/discou...
Discount rates don't work for higher education
We think short term about graduate returns, and the public accounting models we use bake this presumption in. DK has been at the green book again.
wonkhe.com
NEW on Wonkhe: The 2026 NSS results bring evidence that most students are happy with their academic experience, and particularly appreciate the skills of their academic staff buff.ly/oE1Jxud
"It is a farce and a desperate distraction, and the people of Clacton deserve better - but if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him." If Rachel Reeves can produce gold like that I feel like she should stay on as chancellor.
Occurs that Count Binface would need to disavow his hereditary title to be eligible to sit in the House of Commons.
That Napier/SRUC/St Margaret's collaboration (in The Times this morning) - here's what's going on: wonkhe.com/blogs/a-deep...
A deep collaboration without a merger can rewrite the rules
Vicki Stott introduces a collaboration that will see three well-known Scottish providers explore the benefits of working together
wonkhe.com
"It's too hot for LEO data" Yes it is, but this collection adds refreshing prior attainment quintiles to the taste you know and love.
Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · last mo.NEW on Wonkhe: It's LEO, but no as we know it - DK examines the latest attempt to link attainment aged 16 to graduate and non-graduate outcomes buff.ly/R22aFgJ
Good piece on the travails of actually trying to collect data from real people to feed into the Labour Force Survey www.thetimes.com/article/b478...
ONS data is vital for the UK. But it’s hard getting people to talk
The labour force survey by the Office for National Statistics helps shape government policy. Its interviewers can struggle on the doorstep, leading to a rethink
thetimes.com
NEW on Wonkhe: Higher education will be among the first systems to feel the impact of demographic shifts. David Kernohan sets out recommendations on what needs to change now buff.ly/8GJwg2P
Got to say I agree with every word of this: www.cityam.com/there-should... If you are going to pitch anyone, write it yourself. If I wanted Claude's take I could prompt it. But I don't, because, it will say nothing and nobody would want to read it.
So pleased to see the career on track, doing something meaningful, and using skills I learnt questions highlighted here. And I love that self-employability/own business/portfolio is also highlighted. Thank you @wonkhe.bsky.social and @dkernohan.bsky.social!
Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · 2mo agoNEW on Wonkhe: DK gets beyond the headlines in this year’s graduate outcomes data. buff.ly/aqTGgaP
