We welcome the proposal that the Director should play ‘a specific and strengthened role’ within the proposed new Office for Students. This is a real opportunity to continue the progress that has been made in the last decade and to help meet the Prime Minister’s ambitions around fair access. Read More.

As the lead regulator for higher education, HEFCE looks forward to joining with the Government, students, providers, employers and others with an interest in higher education as the proposals are discussed and debated.  Read More.

The government today (6 November 2015) outlined ambitious proposals to put students at the heart of higher education. The reforms are designed to boost teaching standards, support more people into university from disadvantaged backgrounds, and ensure better value for money and employment prospects for students. Read More.

Government’s social mobility adviser speaks out amid suggestions Green Paper has been delayed to allow tie-in with PM speech on social mobility. Alan Milburn, the government’s adviser on social mobility, has warned against cuts to funding for the poorest students, amid suggestions that the Green Paper has been delayed to go alongside a David Cameron speech as the prime minister makes university access a major priority. Mr Milburn, the chair of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, wh...

Thursday 1 December 1994 was a significant milestone in the world of HE data. At the stroke of midnight an employee of the West London Institute of HE sent the first ever student return to the HESA servers in Cheltenham. For the first time the sector had a UK-wide, post binary-divide data and information system. Read More.

Social mobility means being able to improve your and your family’s standard of living, through better education, employment and income. This report investigates how taking part in further education – such as an apprenticeship, work-based learning, community learning and adult education – helps people get better jobs and wages. It also looks at the effects further education has on the prospects for the children of learners. It is a review of published research from government, academics and think...

Graduates generally end up employed in graduate-level positions, but the latest evidence shows that students from disadvantaged backgrounds trail behind their peers when it comes to academic achievement and employment. New research by HEFCE reveals that the vast majority of university graduates gain graduate-level jobs within the first few years of their careers. The report examines the employment outcomes for graduates three and a half years after graduation and compares them to the outcomes af...

“Just because we come from a different background doesn’t mean that they should expect any less.” Young care leaver Care leavers are around six times less likely than other young people to attend university or take part in a higher education course at college. As part of its work to improve the life outcomes of care leavers, The Who Cares? Trust has created Propel, an online resource providing full information about UK educational institutions’ pastoral and financial provision for care leavers, ...

There has been some good news recently for social mobility. This year saw another increase in the number of students starting university and the Office of Fair Access has found that 90% of universities and colleges have either met, or are on course to meet, their widening participation targets. But other research has found that universities’ efforts to widen participation are missing out some key groups: young carers, young people in care, and poor school pupils who happen to live in affluent ne...

HEFCE’s higher education (HE) and local growth data is a collection of interactive maps and datasets including information on: local HE profiles; research capacity and quality; student mobility; and collaboration between SMEs and universities. The student mobility maps have been enhanced with six years of information, including data on further education colleges. The updates allow users to interrogate the data in greater detail by focusing on a smaller geographical area than before. Read More.