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Jim Dickinson

@jimdickinson.bsky.social

2K followers 530 following 2.7K posts

Wonkhe (SUs). Trustee Winchester SU. HE policy. Pop. Pro EU(rovision). Windmills not walls. Giggling incredulity. “Wasteful and inefficient for our economy”. Dreams of visiting Moldova.

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · Nov 24

It happens a lot. There I was, doomscrolling through TikTok this afternoon, when I came across another advert for UK higher education.

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 57m

"Tuition fees to be slashed at universities with inadequate teaching under new government plans | LBC"

Tuition fees to be slashed at universities with inadequate teaching under new government plans | LBC

The current fee for full-time undergraduate degrees in England is £9,535 per year

bit.ly

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1h

We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Phillipson tells universities to take firm action to protect Jewish students

Some 600 training sessions will be offered to university staff over the coming weeks to help ‘identify harassment and hate’, the Government says.

www.independent.co.uk

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 3h

It's increasingly looking like the long awaited Skills White Paper will be a barely-reheated Augar review, where fees were to be cut to £7.5k (which would be £9,692 now) only without the top up to the £9k avg for priorities. "Change" my arse. www.thetimes.com/uk/education...

Tuition fees set to be lowered at universities with poor teaching

Labour is considering bringing the cap below £9,000 a year on campuses where standards aren’t met

www.thetimes.com

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 5h

what

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 5h

and then the next para is "A university would have to offer the same lower fee for any course, rather than being able to charge a higher fee for some of its better courses and lower fees for poorer courses."

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 5h

ST: "In this autumn’s white paper, the government is expected to scrap the TEF rankings, which a third of institutions appealed against in 2023, and replace it with a system that could mean universities would offer different prices depending on the quality of their offering.

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 18h

NEW on Wonkhe: FE-HE collaboration needs to be more than pointing both sectors at the same diminishing funding pot bit.ly/3W0lak8

Reposted by Jim Dickinson

Jennie @unabridgedopinions.com · 1d

I know we are a couple of weeks into term, but I went back to @jimdickinson.bsky.social ‘s recent wonkhe.com/blogs/for-st... because I think its message is even more important now our students are here. We have to keep asking what is being normalised, where we need to be calling attention.

That matters because normalisation is the enemy of change. If students "learn to love their limitations," policymakers have little incentive to do better. The lesson has always been that sometimes the most powerful intervention isn't a tidy solution or a polished set of recommendations, but the act of refusing to let the intolerable become invisible.

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

Wake up kids, we've got the dreamers' disease

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

And I'll chuckle that not one of the governmental or regulatory bodies designed to ensure that the contract is legal appears to give a monkeys

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

I'll point at the contract and tell them I have myself the right to vary it all as long as the bridge actually gets you to the other side

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

One that will end up being shorter, more congested and with fewer lanes than I promised

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

If anyone thinks for a minute that the scale of job losses in HE has been carried out in a way doesn't breach students' legal right to get what they were promised, I have a bridge to sell them

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

"Durham plea to cover 'unsustainable' student HMO tax shortfall"

Durham plea to cover 'unsustainable' student HMO tax shortfall

Liberal Democrat councillors say the council is losing money due to the number of student HMOs.

bbc.in

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

"Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens"

Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

University workers will vote on national strike action this month over a 1.4% pay offer made in the summer.

bbc.in

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Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

"Keir Starmer hails India trade deal as 'launchpad' after meeting Narendra Modi"

Keir Starmer hails India trade deal as 'launchpad' after meeting Narendra Modi

The two leaders met in India's financial capital Mumbai to discuss ways to strengthen trade and business ties.

bbc.in

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

NEW on Wonkhe: Struggling to put your provider's access and participation performance in context? David Kernohan has your back wonkhe.com/blogs/ofs-ac...

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

NEW on Wonkhe: What does the sector look like in 2025, in terms of the chances that groups of students can get in or get on? David Kernohan paints a picture using the latest OfS data buff.ly/qqb8LRC

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

NEW on Wonkhe: What looks like efficiency in UK higher education often masks systemic injustice. Jim Dickinson explores how policies around reassessment quietly entrench inequality buff.ly/89mzFbe