Opinion

Students cannot be put at the heart of the system without a statistics upgrade, argues Paul Clark

Roxanne Stockwell calls on universities to rethink their admissions criteria

It’s a question with no easy answer, finds James Derounian

Troubleshooting vice-chancellor Graham Upton on steering your institution through stormy waters

This weeks issue review podcast focuses on two new university rankings

It’s time for literature teaching and research to address how to distinguish quality writing, argues Richard Bradford

Consultation is good, but universities must respond robustly, he says

Ken Levy, who publishes in both philosophy and law journals, finds the latter group’s system unfair, distasteful and wasteful

Arguably the natural end to a long process, this sector shake-up could end up implementing the aims of a five-year-old review

Ellie Bothwell explores how the country fares in the Global Employability University Ranking

India is still a powerful education ally, says Richard Everitt

Alexis Weedon unveils a computer game for the post-Green Paper era

Richard Black on the ‘lazy and self-serving argument’ that research and teaching are in competition

India ‘cannot aspire to be a world power without having a single world-class university’, country’s president says. Phil Baty writes

The student movement is more divided than ever, but it must stand together to defend its values, says Beth Button

Government proposals will be detrimental not just to scholarship but to quality teaching in higher education, says Joanna Williams

Much is to be decided on who will distribute research funding, but a metrics-based ‘mini-REF’ may raise eyebrows, says David Matthews

John Morgan looks at plans to make it quicker for private colleges to access public funding and become universities

The live blog has now ended, but all existing entries can still be viewed in chronological order

This week's edition of Times Higher Education, discussed by the editorial team

More exchange with the policymaking world will only further academia’s vital role in shaping ideas in society, says Nick Pearce

The work that we do as academics comes wrapped in a tangle of emotions from elation to guilt to disgust, says Aoife Monks

Varying tuition fees by graduate earnings is fair and transparent, argues Dean Machin, and will ensure everyone shares the financial risk

With a minister intent on ‘revolution’, there is a tactical, as well as a moral, case for universities to focus on improving ethnic minority representation

John Morgan reports from today’s protest in London, which saw a flashpoint between protesters and police at BIS

Mike Ratcliffe looks at why institutions have traditionally had to serve an ‘apprenticeship’, ahead of Green Paper set to change the rules

Writing anonymously, a Manchester Metropolitan University employee speaks out on the recent eviction of the ‘Ark’

‘Transposition error’ meant funding council wrongly stated that state school leavers were more likely than private peers to get a good degree

David Crystal sets the record straight on claims the Australian accent originated in drunken speech

Emma Rees on language, taboos, and a word with an almost unparalleled power to shock

Institutions are not developing the key skills employers look for, says David Reed

Matthew Reisz reflects that some jobs are really not for him – even on Halloween

It is as a fictional monster, rather than a real threat in the world, that the Devil today attracts most attention, writes Darren Oldridge

The quality of scholarly editing is ‘extremely uneven’, says Brian Bloch

This week's edition discussed by the Times Higher Education editorial team

Higher fees are to blame for plunging enrolments, says Claire Callender, and dismantling of provision may make loss irreversible

Universal challenges demand cross-disciplinary focus, argues Dame Julia King, and a thematic approach to university teaching will be essential

The country’s young are angry about more than just tuition costs, which is why solutions are difficult, says Martin Hall

In accepting industry funding, universities must be transparent if they are to sustain public faith in the independence of research

Ellie Bothwell looks at the potential impact of Justin Trudeau’s election on the higher education system

Chelsey Baker on how providing honest and constructive feedback can help guide students through a challenging time in their life

Spanish scientist and politician Pablo Echenique on why he won’t be visiting the UK again after being thwarted from delivering a lecture by the UK visa regime

It was 150 years ago that the University of London teamed up with a college on an island in the Indian ocean. Sir Adrian Smith reflects on the significance of this partnership

Claire Taylor challenges the absence of distinctiveness and diversity in an increasingly homogeneous HE landscape

Gina Wisker offers some practical advice on cross-cultural supervision

A new paper finds that more than half of economic studies are unreproducible. But there could be even deeper issues with the discipline, says David Matthews

Stephen Curry is campaigning against possible cuts to the UK research budget, and he needs your help

Brown University dean on gender mix in senior university management

From the battle against Ebola to climate change strategy, research insights from a wide range of disciplines are proving invaluable, says Mark Walport

Initially sceptical about the continental practice of examining a doctoral thesis before an audience, David Bogle has found much to commend it

As academics age, they need wisdom and maturity to bridge cultural gaps and reach their students, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto

For-profit operators are needed to help feed the continent’s hunger for degrees but regulation is key

The UK’s strong higher education reputation has not been achieved by current policies, says Toby Miller

Chris Parr reports as the philosopher talks of big plans for his fledgling institution

Policy Exchange’s report shows that damaging stereotypes of HE and FE persist, writes Joy Carter

It is no surprise that universities and science are high on the agenda for Chinese president Xi Jinping’s state visit to the UK this week, says Alice Gast

Chris Parr writes from the Reinventing Higher Education conference in Madrid

The Chinese president is visiting several of the UK’s top universities. But would they thrive in China? 

Why is the world still prioritising male interpretation of women over womankind? asks Victoria Bateman

Do the socially conservative societies of Asia stifle creativity, or is this a myth created by a complacent West? asks Jack Grove