Higher education is a public good. And a cultural good. And a social good. And an economic good. As a country, we should never forget that. www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/p...

The economic impact of higher education, teaching, research and innovation

The higher education sector contributes more than £265 billion to the UK economy.

In a country with a rational media, universities would be celebrated. Feted. Championed. Promoted. Treasured. Instead, for 15 years, universities have been derided, demonised and driven into a position of defence, instability and timidity. 2/

For every £1 the government invests in higher education, higher education generates £14. Universities have a total economic impact of £265 billion. Each graduate generates an extra £75k for the country. 1/

The odds. For widening participation universities, this is what we’re up against. It’s not enough to just prepare excellent graduates. We have to prepare graduates to navigate a deeply unmeritocratic job market. www.forbes.com/sites/jessis...

Employers Discriminate Against First-Generation College Graduates, New Study Shows

A new study reveals that applicants who reveal their identity as first-generation college graduates are less likely to be hired.

or aren’t ’at ease around professionals’. It argues - rightly - that hiring working class students brings new perspectives to the workplace, graduates who are more aligned to organisations. Graduates who are resilient, skilled in overcoming obstacles, graduates who have succeeded against 2/

More evidence in this article of how employers in some sectors discriminate against first generation/first in family graduates. The belief that they have fewer connections, won’t fit in with corporate culture, haven’t experienced the ‘right’ extra curricular activities 1/

To all teachers returning this week, may your commute be short, your stationery cupboard full and your INSET worth attending.

That fact that many children returning to school this week will eat properly again for the first time in 6 weeks is one of the great tragedies of this country. For many children, school is so much more than just learning.

those feelings have never changed, never diminished. Educational work takes a lot but it gives so much as well. Never once have I regretted this life. It’s been a ride.

It was the most glorious work I’d ever experienced. Half my life has been in education. Half. And, while the jobs have changed, while the sector has changed, while governments have changed, while our understanding of teaching and learning has changed, 3/