This study investigates whether the completion of an optional 'sandwich' work placement enhances graduate starting salaries. We use a variety of multivariate regression techniques to investigate this issue and find that the graduate starting salaries of students who took professional work placements were significantly higher by £1686 ($2105)…

This report looks at why men are more likely than women to achieve first-class degrees at Oxford and Cambridge. This situation stands in stark contrast to the UK higher education sector as a whole, where women are generally more likely to achieve both first-class honours and 'good' honours. The author argues that the first-class awarding gap…

Further education (FE) plays a key part in the post-16 educational landscape in England in delivering technical and academic education that is vital to the country's supply of skilled workers. Yet, despite this importance, the sector has been facing significant challenges in recent years, including critical staff shortages in some subject areas.…

Internships are the new rung on the professional ladder. For the most sought after professions especially, they are increasingly seen as a requirement before a young person is offered their first job. However, too often internships are unpaid and not openly advertised. For young people who cannot afford to work for free, and for those who do not…

This study compares tuition funding arrangements, debt at graduation, and earnings outcomes for full-time domestic undergraduates in eight Anglophone countries: the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland), United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. According to multiple estimates, the average English student faces…

Following our "Call for evidence of sector-leading and innovative practice in advancing equality and diversity" (HEFCE Circular letter 16/2016), HEFCE commissioned the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) to report back on the range of equality and diversity practice undertaken across the higher education sector. Of 120 submissions received,…

We propose a simple theoretical model which shows how the combined effect of wage uncertainty and risk aversion can modify the individual willingness to pay for a HE system financed by an ICL or a ML. We calibrate our model using real data from the 1970 British Cohort Survey together with the features of the English HE financing system. We allow…

This paper examines the tradeoff between early and late specialization in the context of higher education. While some educational systems require students to specialize early by choosing a major field of study prior to entering university, others allow students to postpone this choice. I develop a model in which individuals, by taking courses in…