Information from OfS in July sets out the challenge of registering a large number of providers. This comes after it paused the process and new requirements by DfE for both franchise and LLE purposes. There’s probably over 60 applications to get through. moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/08/05/o...

OfS Registration: after the pause comes the deluge

We know how many franchise providers applied for registration before the deadline. OfS needs to process those applications like it was 2018.

moremeansbetter.wordpress.com

Former sites of HEIs: a series Bordesley College of Education, founded in 1963, merged with Birmingham Polytechnic in 1975. Site was a formerly pair of schools designed by Martin and Chamberlain for the King Edward VI Foundation; reason it is II* listed. historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-...

Sites of former HEIs: a series. Queen Elizabeth College - started as the Ladies Dept of King’s College in leafy Kensington. Became independent college in the University of London in 1928 and remerged with Kings in 1985. The site was sold in 2000 and is now very expensive housing.

It’s graduation season. I like ceremonies on campus, but a venue in town allows graduates to spread out into the streets. Kent have their last ceremony today, they will be back in the cathedral in November but by then they will be part of LASEUG.

OfS Register News: the glitch has been sorted. For a year the East Lancashire Learning Group and Ming AI Association appeared first in the alphabetical list. Now we’re back with AA being first.

Mike Ratcliffe@mike-rat.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Things that the OfS could overhaul about the actual register (still in ‘Beta’ after three years) are the broken alphabetical order and the muddle over trading names and university title.

Like many universities, Napier is the product of mergers, still represented in different campuses. Like many universities, Napier is rationalising the need for different campuses (to the chagrin of coffee shop owners). Unlike many universities Napier will be leaving its original (1964) campus.

Jim Dickinson@jimdickinson.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Edinburgh shopkeepers say 'it will be a disaster' as university issues warning"

It’s graduation season; a wonderful time. Most students only go once, but a group of friends has been going to each other’s ceremonies all week. So they are now able to do comparisons that normally only seasoned attendees pick up on. Key is an enthusiastic presiding officer. And merch.

Here’s some exam questions for the 1960 Dip Ed at Sheffield. What are the drawbacks of minimum entry qualifications to Higher Education? What current educational ideas are likely to be outdated by technology? (Staying in former hall of residence which has sets of past exam papers as decoration)

Former sites of HEIs: a series. Sheffield City Training College opened in 1905. In 1966 it was renamed the Sheffield City College of Education. It merged with Sheffield Polytechnic in 1976. It is, for now, a campus of Sheffield Hallam. #histed

Bring on the new ‘Greater Oxford’ unitary authority. Report overgrown tree via FixMyStreet County says to email City. I email City. City forwards email to County. County emails me to ask I post it on FixMyStreet …

It’s graduation season: the most likely place to encounter your university’s chancellor. As Surrey celebrates the 50 years of service of the Duke of Kent, I have a look at the others (all dukes) who served that long. #histed moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/07/21/l...

Length of Service – the example of Chancellors

The role of University Chancellor was held for life – which has seen some extraordinary periods of service. The Duke of Kent is the fourth duke to have served more than fifty years.

moremeansbetter.wordpress.com

The use of mansions by the military in the Second World War was sometimes followed by their use as emergency teacher training college. Trent Park continued, later merging into Middlesex Polytechnic. Article about a museum opening in the building the university left. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

House of secrets that helped the Allies win the Second Wo...

Trent Park, where 100 operatives – most of them Jewish refugees – secretly gathered vital intelligence from German POWs, opens as a museum in London this week

observer.co.uk

Excellent to see Sir Gavin Williamson reprising his graduation speech at RCL, talking about the value of a British degree. This time he is wearing a Liverpool PhD gown (but not the hood). Not sure what the gown was last time. www.youtube.com/live/OGnQECY...

Extraordinary service of the Duke of Kent as Chancellor of Surrey since 1976. The longevity of dukes can be a thing: the Duke of Montrose was chancellor at Glasgow 1781-1837, Duke of Edinburgh at Edinburgh 1953–2010 with Duke of Somerset at Cambridge 1689–1748. www.surrey.ac.uk/news/univers...

"Lots of bus trips" @canterburyccuni.bsky.social #HigherEducationPostcard

A proportion of the drivers who go the wrong way in New High Street in Headington can’t know it’s a one-way street. Apparently @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social can’t repaint the road entry, but this is so regular that something needs to be done quicker than ‘later in the year’.

Good account of the House of Lords debate from @mcraeandrew.bsky.social, in particular how despite “the notes of regret, there were no demands for an end to job losses”. Maybe when it starts to affect Oxford, they might be more demanding? www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/hous...

The House of Lords fiddled while Exeter burns

At last week’s HE debate, a host of Oxford-associated grandees made the usual points while the sector continued to melt down, says Andrew McRae

timeshighereducation.com

Mike Ratcliffe@mike-rat.bsky.social · last mo.

A @houseoflords.parliament.uk debate on higher education is always worth engaging with, although there’s a tendency towards supporting the elite end of the sector. Baroness Deech opening the debate by calling for more hierarchy: even so far as a return to Polytechnics.

Two interesting points in this blog: the Jarrett Report is blamed for a decline in the credibility of HE governance (it was 40 years ago) and that restoring the title of ‘University Registrar’ would ‘signify a focus on integrity and ethical governance’. www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/07/09/p...

Provoking changes in higher education, some further reflections on governance – an addendum on the revised code - HEPI

This blog represents an addendum to a previous blog dated 6 September 2025 by Professor Nigel Savage. The revised code on Higher Education Governance, published on 17th June , is a considerable step f...

hepi.ac.uk

Focus on early years in Bridget Phillipson’s keynote at Ruskin - a comprehensive education from birthplace to workplace. On HE, it’s wonderful that there’s much more access but it’s not felt evenly, plus there needs to be parity of esteem across academic and technical routes.

Hello delayrepay, my old friend I've come to talk with you again…

University Title News. OfS have decided to approve the title ‘Norland University of Early Childhood’. The college currently runs a BA and MA in early childhood. www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications...

This is a very welcome report from William Whyte focusing on the community side of residence. Both the NUS and UGC were keen to see more residential life in British universities in the middle of the 20th century, but we have lost track on both how and why. www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/movi...

Moving Away? The past and future of student accommodation - HEPI

As universities rethink how students study, a major new report from HEPI and the UPP Foundation argues that on-campus residential university life remains an essential part of the student experience. O...

hepi.ac.uk

A nice piece for a concert on 4 July is Ives Variations on ‘America’ where the “My Country, 'Tis of Thee” theme has a different resonance here.

Admitting people to their degrees by tapping them on the head is a feature of Scottish graduations, but it’s unclear how Edinburgh are adapting their ceremony. Of course, the provenance of the hat is also an issue here. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Edinburgh University ditches 150-year-old graduation cap tradition

The Geneva Bonnet, also known as the John Knox Cap, will no longer be used to tap the head of graduating students.

bbc.co.uk

A @houseoflords.parliament.uk debate on higher education is always worth engaging with, although there’s a tendency towards supporting the elite end of the sector. Baroness Deech opening the debate by calling for more hierarchy: even so far as a return to Polytechnics.

The Telegraph started 2026 in very much the way it wanted to go on: coverage of a report on woke universities. Except; the report explaining that 1% of students were on “woke courses” still hasn’t been published six months on. moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/t...

Too woke to publish

The Telegraph ran an article about a report on Mickey Mouse degrees, but the TPA hasn’t actually published the report.

moremeansbetter.wordpress.com

OfS register news - one new provider. Westminster Theological Centre is Registered - fee cap. It offers a PT BA and MA in kingdom theology, based in Cheltenham but delivered through hub churches. This is the first new registration since Sept 25 (also intrigued by empty rows in the spreadsheet)

History of higher education puts change into perspective. The rise of new technologies can be overstated; here Prof AJ Grant notes that printing didn’t eliminate teaching and neither will new innovations. This is 1930 and he’s referring to the claims made about radio. #histed

If you are making a list of 40 readily implementable things for English higher education, there’s loads of reasons you wouldn’t put student number controls first. Mostly, the time is not ripe for student number controls. moremeansbetter.wordpress.com/2026/06/23/t...

This is not the time for student number controls

Calls for student number planning have been around for years. This is one of the 40 recommendations in a recent report but this is not readily implementable. Meanwhile ‘cracking down’ o…

moremeansbetter.wordpress.com

Here’s an eye-catching package from a Liberal Arts College in Washington. “You won’t pay more than 10% of your family’s income toward tuition”. The systems are utterly different, but you have to admire the simplicity. www.whitman.edu/admission-an...

The Whitman 10% Promise

At Whitman, your family pays no more than 10% of your income toward tuition. Submit the FAFSA and you're automatically considered for the 10% Promise.

whitman.edu