Politics

Jeremy Corbyn wants fees scrapped, but shadow higher education minister says policy will not be rushed and must come with broader vision

Almost 7 billion rand (£310 million) made available to pay for fee freeze and student support

Debt could be repaid if students stay in Scotland to work after course finishes

The most popular higher education articles of the year, based on website traffic

But the fate of Rhodes statue remains uncertain as anti-racism campaigners call for it be taken down

Rather than scrapping fees, universities in the country should invest the money in developing their research, says Cristián Larroulet

Successful reform of higher education to reward good teaching 'may be an impossibility', says Paul Blackmore

Meanwhile, education committee calls for 'further detail' from ministers on controversial governance measures

Publication of quality assessment consultation so soon after the general election may not have gone down well in Whitehall

New research initiative is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, if not the world

Chief executive of research-intensive group says there could be ‘phased-in approach’ to deregulation after political battles

The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the national press

New approach to provision of specialist support is threat to students’ effective participation, warns Harriet Cameron

Baron Stern of Brentford has previously raised concerns that the research excellence framework forces academics to focus too much on publishing articles

Dorothy Bishop takes a close look at the universities and science minister’s NSS claims

Sam Clovis has come under scrutiny for his role in the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign

Absence of legislation would leave plans to create new student and market-focused regulator unable to proceed

Bahram Bekhradnia says teaching excellence framework could be welcome ‘counterweight’ to research imperative

The National Union of Students has released a selection of Christmas songs inspired by higher education. All together now – one, two, three, four...

OECD head of education insists emulating Pisa school tests will improve teaching and lower fees

First official statement on higher education and science from organisation campaigning for Brexit

Conservative MP Neil Carmichael, chair of the Education Select Committee, on the risks to the higher education sector of exiting the EU

Simon Marginson tells SRHE conference that multiplicity of factors affect graduate outcomes

Donald Braben looks at the implications of Sir Paul Nurse’s review of research councils

SRHE conference told that universities are at centre of ‘a race between competing social groups with unequal resources’

Responses of more than 24,000 undergraduates indicate limited development in areas such as creativity and citizenship over course of degree

The powerful message that maintenance grants send to students will be lost in the shift to loans, says Carina Buckley

Half of money cut to be reallocated to tuition fee grants, which Plaid Cymru says will end up in English universities

Freeze on tuition fee increases does nothing to counter inequality, writes Martin Hall

Jennifer McCoy looks at how a ‘political earthquake’ in Venezuela might affect the country’s universities

Universities minister also tells BIS committee that TEF will look at graduate employment rather than salaries

Scholars call for open dialogue with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement supporters

There is ‘often ill-informed reverence for the US system’, claims the director of the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education 

Fair access tsar warns ‘top-down meddling’ would be a ‘costly, bureaucratic exercise’

I had assumed stories about campus political correctness might be overblown. But the experience of my friend is an example of how deeply it permeates universities

Senior figures in UK science fear that culture leading to research misconduct has not been changed

A qualified welcome for George Osborne’s real-terms protection of research, but uncertainty over how new overseas aid spending will operate

Government’s moves to lower student loan write-off ease path to postgraduate and part-time lending

The furore about trigger warnings and no-platform campaigns reveals not a timid generation but rather one unafraid to tackle reality head-on, argues Tom Cutterham

David Price, Graeme Reid and Andrew Clark applaud the wisdom of creating Research UK

Open letter calls for ministers to support academic research on sustainability during week of United Nations climate change conference in Paris

David Lloyd, vice-chancellor of the University of South Australia, on an erratic period of change for universities

Giving evidence to a BIS committee inquiry on assessing the quality of higher education provoked questions about how teaching might be measured, writes John Gill

Birmingham v-c among those warning BIS select committee against Green Paper proposals

An aggregated university score would be designed to serve government bean counters, not students, says Athene Donald

Hepi says survey findings support UUK’s decision to campaign for ‘in’ vote

Global Challenges Fund could be enabler of world-class science tackling global issues, says Malcolm von Schantz

Vice-chancellors say funding should be redirected to means-tested maintenance grants

Durham pro vice-chancellor warns that institutions would be forced to challenge a worse-than-expected judgement

Unexpected creation of a ‘Global Challenges Research Fund’ means that if they want more money, academics may have to contribute to international development

Anarchist academic reflects on what her recent brush with the law says about threats to academic freedom

The media’s sneering attacks on the Labour leader’s limited tertiary study fail to recognise that academic qualifications are not political science, says Martin McQuillan

Involvement in global quality assurance is crucial to signing up more overseas students, says Fiona Crozier

Some key points to take away from George Osborne’s speech today and the Treasury’s spending review document

Money Saving Expert founder fuming on decision to press ahead with controversial policy

Government relaxes student loan eligibility rules but confirms plan to freeze repayment threshold, as student opportunity funding also targeted

Savings include cuts in funding for poorest students and forcing existing students to pay more for loans

However, there is confusion over the final value of the settlement, which may include 'tucking in' of Global Challenges fund

There’s a choice to be made on R&D investment, says Richard Jones, and we must get it right

Director for education praises system for allowing country to raise spending in ‘difficult times’