Review, consult, repeat

The government has published a volley of long-awaited reports and launched several more consultations

It was super Thursday in the higher education world yesterday as the government released a slew of reports that had been knocking around the Department for Education for months—and in some cases years.

First came the “interim conclusion of the review of post-18 education and funding” (an initial response to the Augar review), closely followed by Shirley Pearce’s long-awaited review of the Teaching Excellence Framework (so old it bears the date August 2019) and the government’s response to it, and then a skills white paper and a consultation on post-qualification admissions. The education secretary then delivered a letter to the Office for Students setting out the teaching grant for the next financial year and his funding priorities—which was perhaps the most eye-catching document of the lot.