Politics

Vince Cable has said any sense of “triumph” over new figures showing a decline in student immigration is “absurd”, as he issued a strong defence of international student movement

Call to put differences aside, ahead of UCU Congress in Brighton

Stay-at-home students who attend a local university should be eligible for cut-price tuition fees of £5,000 a year, according to an influential commission of higher education experts

The University of Greenwich has launched an investigation into whether there has been extremism on its campuses after confirming that one of the suspects in the murder of a British soldier studied at the institution

Net migration to the UK has fallen again mainly thanks to a 23 per cent drop in the number of students coming to the country to study.

Lowering tuition fees to £6,000 – a policy put forward by Labour - could cost the Treasury the same as the current £9,000 set-up, a study has claimed.

£9,000 limit poses threat to quality and income, conference hears

Brighton event aims to form charter of core university values

Treatment to avoid cuts would do more harm than good, critics say

Alastair Bonnett visits Lincoln’s Social Science Centre, a cooperative, free university attempting to build a different kind of knowledge economy

Less than 10 years since their introduction, tuition fees will soon disappear from the country. Frances Mechan-Schmidt reports

A new website has been launched to help universities tackle violent extremism and radicalisation on campus.

A campaign has been launched to promote part-time study following the dramatic fall in the number of such students choosing to enter higher education.

Universities minister David Willetts has defended the student finance system against criticisms that it is unsustainable and will not bring in the amount of money required to fund the sector long term.

Nick Hillman says coalition approach to finance may shape global academy

Body defends science and social mobility funds from spending review

Germany and Eastern Europe rocked by string of high-profile cases within their governments. Paul Jump reports

David Willetts has said the estimated public cost of the new student loans system “could rise further”, a factor that critics fear could leads to cuts elsewhere in the higher education budget and the redesign of the student support system.

Comedian Johnny Vegas has mounted a heart-felt defence of art school, claiming that the new fees regime will dissuade students from deprived backgrounds studying for creative degrees to the detriment of society.

By Scott Jaschik, for Inside Higher Ed

Research reveals conservative fears of left-wing influence are unfounded

Obama defends discipline from Republican attacks

Embattled French leader’s attempts to fix university sector’s problems have met with a mixed response

Bahram Bekhradnia on funding chiefs’ hunt for a new leader

David Willetts and Vince Cable appear to prefer visiting Russell Group to post-92s, writes John Morgan

Universities UK has moved to head off any prospect that the new immigration bill, announced today in the Queen’s Speech, might herald a crackdown on the use of public services by overseas university students.

Planned reforms of higher education in Ireland have come under fire in a speech by the outgoing president of the sector’s main union.

John Elmes investigates the growth in university-sponsored academies

Leader sought to guide Hefce through period of upheaval

Nicola Dandridge says mixed messages on immigration aid competitor nations’ university sectors

Under the reign of the free-market icon, state power over universities increased. Vernon Bogdanor assesses Thatcher’s legacy to education

Toby Miller recalls a paralysing encounter with terror in the skies and asks: in my shoes, would you have reacted differently?

The LSE’s complaints about being kept in the dark about undercover reporting in North Korea are peevish, Tim Luckhurst argues

Geraldine Van Bueren says international law could help opponents of rising tuition costs in their battle

Sheila Rowbotham on a crisp portrait of a restless thinker who was neither infallible nor prophetic

Australian approach offers lessons for UK, forum hears

The rest of the world thinks so, says Hefce funding chief

The proportion of young people accessing higher education hit a record high of 49 per cent as students scrambled to avoid last year’s tuition fee hikes, a new study says.

School pupils from poorer backgrounds could be contacted by the government to nudge them towards applying to university if they get good GCSE grades, David Willetts has said.

Legal challenge helped save overseas students from deportation

UUK chief looks to impact to save budget from Augean economy

The vice-chancellor of the UK’s first private university will attend Baroness Thatcher’s funeral after being invited on her instructions, and has praised her for transforming the nation “wholly for the better”.

Former prime minister’s higher education policies still elicit respect and rancour. Jack Grove reports

Clear sight essential, thick skin an advantage: Hepi’s outgoing director looks back on 11 years of scrutiny on the sector’s behalf

London Metropolitan University will again be allowed to recruit international students after the Home Office ended the revocation of its visa licence.

Margaret Thatcher’s “revolutionary” reforms helped to transform an ailing university system into a world-leading higher education system, a vice-chancellor has said.

National Union of Students’ president Liam Burns has called for “sensitivity” and “respect” after some delegates at the union’s annual conference were heard to cheer news that former prime minister Baroness Thatcher had died.

Recent comments about initial teacher training made by education secretary Michael Gove and Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools, constitute a “concerted political attack” on universities that has “no basis” in evidence.

Alan Ryan considers a new method of governance

Speculation mounts that reform has diminished leadership role

But business may have to pick up bigger cheque, shadow minister signals

The University Alliance mission group has gained another new member from Million+ while also announcing it is signing a partnership with its Australian counterpart.

The UK Border Agency is to be split in two, between a visa body and a law enforcement body, and brought back under the control of Home Office ministers.

Sir Alan Langlands is to leave his job as chief executive of England’s funding council to become vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds, where he has been welcomed as a “stellar figure” in higher education.

Academics have been making their voice heard on Twitter after education secretary Michael Gove mocked 100 university professors who had criticised his plans to reform the national curriculum.

Michael Gove has reiterated his desire to move initial teacher training towards school-led providers by pledging an extra £10 million for schools to train the next generation of teachers.

Despite hard times and fruitless protest, there is still power in a union, argues David Reed

Justice has been poorly served by the bloody-minded determination of the state to prosecute anti-fees demonstrators, argues Martin McQuillan

George Osborne’s budget has revealed that the government appears to be scrapping plans to grant VAT exemption to for-profit higher education providers, a move that was aimed at exposing universities to greater competition.

Universities UK has been asked by David Willetts to undertake a review of part-time study and make urgent recommendations in response to a report which shows a “dramatic decline” in part-time students.