So, way back in December 2021 I had a crack at thinking about the way we classify higher education providers.
It was, for me at least, a fascinating and humbling experience. I had conversations with all kind of people as a result, and it helped clarify my thinking about providers.
Clearly mission groups, although they do a lot of great work, are not the best way to split the sector up into collections of similar providers. We do talk about groups of providers all the time – how often, for instance, do you mention “the Russell Group” as if a self-selecting group of 24 providers had anything more in common than their decision to keep paying subscriptions.
The trouble is, there’s not really an alternative approach.
