The Higher Education Show – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

The Higher Education Show

Team Wonkhe

Education

Government

Frequency: 1 episode/114d. Total Eps: 313

Every week the Wonkhe team and guests from across higher education dissect the week's big policy developments, and we also feature views from around the sector.

Site

RSS

Apple

Data updated on 12/09/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/25197412-32b8-4f29-b428-ecb5f4a41ff0/The-Wonkhe-Show-the-higher-education-podcast
3 shares

https://www.deezer.com/hr/show/66242
3 shares

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 32%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

Future jobs, uni closures

Season 1 · Episode 2

Friday, September 11, 2026 • Duration 33:43

This week on the podcast we examine Universities UK’s plans to strengthen graduate employment, as its annual conference puts the future of universities and their contribution to jobs, innovation and communities in the spotlight.

Plus we discuss new research on what university closure actually feels like for students, and whether existing student protection arrangements are equipped to deal with the financial, academic and personal consequences. We also pick through some of the other higher education and research policy stories catching our attention this week.

With Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, Smita Jamdar, Partner and Head of Education at Shakespeare Martineau, and presented by James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and Research Agenda.

Will a graduate jobs roadmap show us the right way?

Student protection needs to start with what closure actually feels like

Read moreCollapse

Burnham, SUs, Year ahead

Season 1 · Episode 1

Friday, September 4, 2026 • Duration 49:48

This week on the podcast we discuss what Andy Burnham’s new government could mean for higher education, following his first appearance before MPs and a statement setting out priorities on post-16 education, industrial strategy and the role of universities in economic growth.

With promises on devolution, a response to the Milburn review on young people not in education, employment or training, and even a commitment to “save Jodrell Bank”, what should the sector make of the direction of travel – and what might the autumn Budget and forthcoming ten-year plan bring?

Plus we discuss what students have been experiencing over the long summer break, drawing on lessons from students’ unions around the country, and look ahead to the big higher education policy questions of the year, including mergers and collaboration, developments in Scotland and Wales, and the future of quality.

With Hugh Jones, independent consultant and postcard wrangler, Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe.

Whose universities are they anyway?

Transformation in higher education cannot run on goodwill alone

There’s 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end that

Read moreCollapse

The end of the year show

Season 25 · Episode 14

Thursday, July 16, 2026 • Duration 54:47

This week on the podcast Team Wonkhe looks back on the year in higher education policy and politics – from the Post-16 Education and Skills white paper to the financial pressures pushing institutions towards closures, mergers and deeper collaboration.

Plus the team discusses the fallout from the Office for Students' High Court case against the University of Sussex, the shifting narrative around who goes to university and why, and the growing gap between students' financial pressures and what the system assumes about their time and money.

With Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, John Blake, Director of the Post-18 Project and David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Read moreCollapse

Funding, student loans, NSSmass

Season 25 · Episode 13

Friday, July 10, 2026 • Duration 31:15

This week on the podcast the government's Strategic Priorities Grant allocation lands with a cash cut of just over £50m – and a much wider list of subjects losing high-cost teaching support, including the creative arts, computing and nursing.

Plus two competing views on student loans this week – the House of Commons Treasury Committee concludes the government has, in effect, mis-sold student loans, while the Post-18 Project's John Blake argues the loan book itself is an accounting fiction obstructing reform of university funding in England. And DK has your NSS headlines.

With Sarah Cowan, Head of Policy (Higher Education and Research) at the British Academy, Chris Shelley, Director of Student Experience at Queen Mary University of London and James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, presented by Mark Leach, Editor in Chief at Wonkhe.

I’ve stopped believing in Father NSSmas. Here’s why

Student loans can no longer be patched up. The system is rotten

The NSS shows us that students still seem to like higher education

The Silence of the Loans: How student loan book fictions prevent higher education reform

The Treasury committee proposes tinkering with student loans

Read moreCollapse

PhD students, Burnham

Season 25 · Episode 12

Thursday, July 2, 2026 • Duration 47:02

This week on the podcast we ask why UKRI is spending more on PhD studentships while the number of funded starts falls. New analysis shows doctoral stipends have taken priority over the volume of studentships, with UKRI-funded starts 22 per cent lower than a decade ago – so do we have the right number of PhDs, and what does this mean for institutions, disciplines, UK science and academic careers?

The team also digs into a new Martingale Foundation report on the experiences of doctoral students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds, and the culture around "not belonging". Plus the Post-18 Project has launched a paper calling for a new Department for Skills, Research, and Prosperity, uniting higher education teaching and research, further education, apprenticeships and the industrial strategy around a presumption in favour of local decision-making.

With Eunice Simmons, Vice Chancellor at the University of Chester, John Blake, Director at The Post-18 Project, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

A Ministry for Manchesterism: Rewiring Whitehall for locally-driven prosperity and change

Devolution is a means not an end for research

The doctoral experience remains shaped by socioeconomic status

Read moreCollapse

Burnham, IFS on value of HE

Season 25 · Episode 11

Thursday, June 25, 2026 • Duration 43:15

This week on the podcast we examine the implications of a change at the top of government, as Keir Starmer prepares to depart and Andy Burnham appears set for a swift coronation as Labour leader and Prime Minister. With new policy priorities, new ministers, and a new political centre of gravity potentially taking shape, what might “Manchesterism” mean for higher education?

We discuss what new evidence on graduate earnings tells us about the value of higher education, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies reports on returns to study and government edges closer to using outcomes data to shape student loan access and course provision, and we discuss the higher education stories catching attention this week, from science funding and postgraduate research student experience to English language standards, applicant trends, health and wellbeing, and the future of apprenticeship funding.

With Vivienne Stern, Chief Executive at Universities UK, Paul Greatrix, Director of Higher Education Consultancy at Shakespeare Martineau, Livia Scott, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

The Starmer era in English higher education

Higher education study still makes financial sense for most

What can GCSE performance tell us about salaries aged 27?

Can we really separate student experience and student life?

There is no growth without universities

Minimum entry, Governance, Working class boys and girls

Season 25 · Episode 10

Friday, June 19, 2026 • Duration 48:35

This week on the podcast reports suggest the Department for Education is considering restricting access to the student loan book to those who hold a pass in GCSE English – a move that could prove financially devastating for institutions with large numbers of students who lack that qualification, many of them linked to franchised provision.

Plus, the Committee of University Chairs has published a revised Code of Higher Education Governance, and we discuss the Sutton Trust's latest research on opportunity which complicates the narrative around white working-class boys.

With Mike Ratcliffe, Interim Academic Registrar at Canterbury Christ Church University, Annie Bell, Associate Director Higher Education at Public First, and David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Opportunity is shaped by where you live, who you are, and how much money your family had

The Code of Higher Education Governance has had a complete rewrite

Is the government really re-immersing itself in the MERs debate?

Read moreCollapse

TEF, student experience, demographics

Season 25 · Episode 9

Thursday, June 11, 2026 • Duration 51:38

This week on the podcast we examine the next phase of the Teaching Excellence Framework, as the Office for Students confirms its first decisions on a revised approach to assessing education quality. With all providers in scope, apprenticeships included, and ratings linked to future incentives, interventions, growth limits, and potentially funding, the stakes around TEF are set to rise.

Plus we discuss new findings from the Student Academic Experience Survey, with students reporting the highest levels of perceived value for money in a decade despite ongoing pressures from paid work, costs, and expectations. And we consider what long-term demographic change means for higher education, as projections point to a shrinking pool of 18-year-olds and a growing need to rethink participation, access, and financial sustainability.

With Paul Ashwin, Professor of Higher Education at Lancaster University, Rachel Macsween, Director of Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement for UK and Europe at IDP, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

First round of consultation on future TEF sees movement on the implications of a Bronze award

Students are coping better because the system is demanding less

The Big Shortfall: Demographic downturn and the post-18 education system

Read moreCollapse

Public opinion, Missing middle

Season 25

Thursday, June 4, 2026 • Duration 38:13

This week on the podcast a third of the public now thinks a university education just isn't worth the time and money it usually takes, according to the latest British Social Attitudes survey – a share that has climbed steeply from 14 per cent in 2005.

We dig into what is driving the erosion of public confidence in higher education, how attitudes are pulling apart along political lines, and what it all means as the House of Commons Treasury Committee opens its inquiry into student loans. Plus a new report from the Lifelong Education Institute asks whether England will finally get serious about the "missing middle" at levels 4 and 5.

With Andy Westwood, Professor of Public Policy, Government and Business at the University of Manchester, Eve Alcock, Executive Director for External Affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Michael Salmon, News Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.

Read moreCollapse

Cuts, International, Friends

Season 25 · Episode 8

Friday, May 29, 2026 • Duration 46:18

This week on the podcast we discuss the scale and shape of cuts across UK higher education, as new survey findings from Universities UK suggest institutions are considering mergers, groups, hiring freezes, redundancies, campus closures, and reductions in student support as financial pressures deepen.

Plus we discuss the latest international recruitment data, and we consider new Wonkhe research on belonging, friendship and student experience, asking whether universities are designing the structural conditions students need to form meaningful academic and social connections.

With Emma Maslin, Senior Policy and Research Officer at AMOSSHE, Neil Mackenzie, Chief Executive at Leeds Beckett SU, James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

The international student boom is over – and the bust is being delivered by stealth

Friends, it turns out, have benefits

Are universities supporting students too much?

Managing immigration compliance risk through large deposits is immoral and probably unlawful

UUK: Two in five universities consider joining forces through 'multi academy trust' style models or mergers, new survey shows

Read moreCollapse

The Higher Education Show – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

The Higher Education Show – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

Amazon1

Deezer1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

Amazon1

Deezer1

Apple Podcasts

Spotify