Politics

Business secretary will argue against sector cuts and for extra investment

Mayor confident in capital’s academic brand values

The academy must repel UKIP’s charges, argues Christopher Phelps

Minister and BIS take close interest in study with enormous policy implications

Fewer British universities are hitting their overseas student recruitment targets this year in the wake of the government’s visa changes and Indian student numbers have again been hit, according to Universities UK.

A student Islamic society has apologised after a video was posted on its Facebook site claiming the killing of a soldier in Woolwich was a government hoax.

Moving medical education and research funding to the Department of Health would “pose a significant threat to the UK’s leading position” in the fields, medical schools have warned George Osborne.

By Scott Jaschik, for Inside Higher Ed

Tuition fees major concern for schoolchildren, Sutton Trust discovers

G. R. Evans’ rallying cry: scholars, do the spadework to defend the sector

Russell Group’s latest members have agreed to stump up £500,000 each

Plans to cut student support may be undermined by court ruling

When anthropologists pointed out that cultural factors impeded tropical disease treatment campaigns, some fellow scientists reacted with outrage

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.

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

£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

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

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

Research reveals conservative fears of left-wing influence are unfounded

Obama defends discipline from Republican attacks

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

Australian approach offers lessons for UK, forum hears

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

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

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.