It’s a wrap! Over the past two weeks, HEPI has hosted events in London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff in conjunction with the Nuffield Foundation and London Economics.
The theme in each place was higher education fees and funding, with a backdrop of:the forthcoming Westminster election and other political goings on – like:
- the current election of a new Labour Leader (and thus First Minister) in Wales;
- a brand new Executive finding their feet in Northern Ireland;
- Budget Day at Westminster; and
- manoeuvring before the next Holyrood election in Scotland (although that is not due until May 2026).
Travelling to and from these major UK cities within such a short space of time, with an additional trip for me to a brilliant Higher Education Authority conference at Dublin’s Croke Park stadium in between, is the closest I will ever get as a think-tank director to feeling like a rock star on tour. So I am still buzzing from the experience, including the deep engagement from our diverse audiences as well as our panels of speakers, which included the leaders of Universities UK, Universities Scotland, MillionPlus and LondonHigher, various elected student representatives and institutional leaders from traditional, modern and atypical institutions – including a former Cabinet Minister.
