Policy area: Education

Reports

Are students still ‘woke’?

This report from UK think tank HEPI explores students' views on free speech issues. In a new poll on a range of free speech issues, 35% of full-time undergraduate students say they think Reform UK ‘should be banned from speaking at events held at higher education institutions’. The new opinion poll, which was conducted by...

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Using artificial intelligence (AI) to advance translational research

This report from UK think tank HEPI explores the potential of AI to advance translational research.   A new report by HEPI and Taylor & Francis explores the potential of AI to advance translational research and accelerate the journey from scientific discovery to real-world application. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Advance Translational Research (HEPI Policy Note...

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Care to negotiate?

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation discusses how to make a success of the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body. This briefing note sets out recommendations to ensure the new Adult Social Care Negotiating Body can get off the ground quickly, while leaving scope to iterate and refine over time, so that it...

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Rethinking student voice: how can higher education design effective student governance?

This report from UK think tank HEPI argues that many governing boards still fail to make space for student voices in higher education. A new report from the Higher Education Policy Institute examines how student governors frequently feel marginalised in institutional oversight, and offers actionable reforms to ensure legitimacy, inclusion and real influence. The report...

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The value of a knowledge-rich curriculum

This report from UK think tank Civitas offers an insight into the merits and realities of a knowledge-rich curriculum. This essay collection is a multi-author anthology bringing together a wide range of professionals from teaching, education leadership, policy and academia to discuss the aims, impact and potential of a knowledge-rich curriculum approach in schools. With...

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How do we know if it works?

This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation evaluates higher education regulation. Higher education has often been lauded as English education’s ‘jewel in the crown’ – but there are no shortage of criticisms about the sector. This briefing investigates the standard of the evaluations of higher education regulation and policy, and outlines recommendations...

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State of the relationship report 2025

This report from UK think tank NCUB looks at the evidence on collaboration between universities and businesses. NCUB’s annual State of the Relationship report is an evidence tool to strengthen collaboration between universities and businesses. It offers important insights into the scale and nature of interactions between universities and businesses, identifying patterns and trends over...

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Making higher education work for Indigenous peoples in Mexico

This report from UK think tank the Institute for Policy Research provides recommendations that address six recurring challenges for Indigenous students in Mexico. Working with more than 300 individuals across six Mexican states between 2021 and 2024, the researchers analysed the role that higher education plays in supporting the social and economic development of Indigenous...

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Student working lives

This report from UK think tank HEPI reveals the hidden realities of student employment in UK higher education. A landmark study exploring the growing prevalence and impact of paid work among students in UK higher education, and which demonstrates the hidden realities of the student experience, has today been launched by the Higher Education Policy...

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Renewing classical liberal education

This report from UK think tank Civitas discusses classical liberal education and its history. Classical liberal education is the grounding of a child into a lifelong adventure through ideas and ideals, that they might enter, through the gradual cultivation of wisdom, style and virtue, into the fullness of humanity, ‘the good life’ as we might...

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Rethinking placement: Increasing clinical placement efficacy for a sustainable NHS future

This report from UK think tank HEPI looks at how bold action is needed to fix the NHS clinical placement crisis. A fundamental rethink of how the NHS trains its future workforce is urgently needed, according to a new paper from the Higher Education Policy Institute, Rethinking Placement: Increasing Clinical Placement Efficacy for a Sustainable...

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Degrees of difference

This report from UK think tank the Sutton Trust compares intergenerational social mobility and higher education in the US and UK. Social mobility remains a key challenge for both the UK and US. Despite successive governments stating a clear desire to improve social mobility and putting in place bodies to promote this (for example, the...

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Youth degree apprenticeships: An alternative to university?

This report from UK think tank the Education Policy Institute examines youth degree apprenticeships. 'Youth degree apprenticeships: An alternative to university?', funded by AL Elevation, examines access, participation, and outcomes for young people aged 18–24 on level 6 degree apprenticeship courses in England. Using linked administrative data, the report provides evidence on who is taking...

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Performance Tracker 2025: Schools

This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government looks at the challenges facing the government in meeting its education priorities within budget. Research conducted since, including by the Institute for Government, shows that educational inequalities across English schools opened up at an alarming rate over this period, with some gaps growing to their...

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Altered courses

This report from UK think tank the Sutton Trust explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis on young people in the UK. The cost-of-living crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have had profound consequences on young people, with potential implications for their future life chances. To look at these consequences in-depth, this...

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