Priorities For The New UK Government: Fixing The Higher Education System

Our Policy & Practice miniseries, ‘Priorities for the new UK Government’, has explored key issues on which the government is—or ought to be—focusing its attention. The final instalment in this miniseries will focus on the higher education system itself.  

It is a system in trouble. Institutions across the country are cutting staff and programmes to make ends meet amid rising costs and declining numbers of international students. And yet, there is immense potential for this world-leading sector to contribute to our economy and wellbeing. Our expert panel, consisting of a vice-chancellor and education policy experts, will discuss the Government’s vision for the sector and explore what more can be done.

Meet the speakers

Sir David Bell is the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Sunderland. Previously Vice-Chancellor at the University of Reading, he also has extensive experience in Government, including serving as Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education. Sir David was recently appointed as the Vice Chair of Skills England. 

Baroness Wolf of Dulwich DBE is the Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management at King’s College London. She sits as a crossbench peer in the House of Lords. Specialising in the relationship between education and the labour market, she served in the Number 10 Policy Unit from February 2020 to February 2023 as expert advisor to the prime minister on skills and workforce. 

Rebecca Montacute  is the Acting Director of Research & Policy at the Sutton Trust, which aims to improve social mobility and address educational disadvantage. Her research explores socio-economic inequality in the early years, schools & colleges, apprenticeships, Higher Education and the workplace. 

Chair: Prof. Jennifer Hudson is Vice-Provost (Faculties) at UCL. She has previously been Dean of UCL’s Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences and Head of the Department of Political Science. 

This event will be recorded and the video will be uploaded to our YouTube channel.

You can subscribe to our YouTube channel to be alerted when the recording is uploaded.

Accessibility

• The corridor outside the lecture theatre(s) is sufficiently wide enough (150cm+) to allow wheelchair users to pass.
• There is step free access into the lecture theatre(s).
• The door opening width(s) is/are 75cm+ for the lecture theatre(s).
• There are designated spaces for wheelchair users within the lecture theatre(s), located at the back.
• There is level access to the designated seating from an entrance.
• There is space for an assistance dog.
• There is a hearing assistance system for the lecture theatre(s).
• There is not a visual fire alarm beacon in the lecture theatre(s).

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