UUK

We need to talk about credit

by Mark Leach October 28, 2011

In 2007, The Burgess Review declared the current honours system ‘not fit for purpose’. Designed long ago when a tiny number of institutions were awarding a tiny number of degrees, its use in 2011 looks at best to be a very odd anachronism and at worst; a dangerously out of date and inappropriate way of measuring and awarding student achievement. The summative nature of the honours system is seen as the main offender and no longer appropriate for a modern higher education sector. Despite years of work on this, Professor Burgess was always going to have an uphill struggle convincing people to abandon the system that although flawed, remains familiar to institutions.

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The emergence of mission groups; from corporatism to pluralism?

by Richard Brabner February 25, 2011

A couple of weeks ago Mario Creatura and Martin Hughes delved into the issue of university representative groups. Mario and Martin (not yet a boyband) both mentioned the difficulties UUK has of representing a sector that boasts of a diverse range of missions and interests.

They were both right. Since the expansion of the sector it has been impossible for UUK to solely represent the interests of universities. But why? Three famous studies from the world of political science may start to offer us an answer.

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The Worthwhile Challenge of Representation

by Martin Hughes February 8, 2011

How do you represent the collective interests of the HE sector? Universities UK, the representative organisation for the UK’s universities, aims to be the voice for all institutions. They attempt to “promote a successful and diverse higher education sector” [Source]. This is a difficult task. A big reason is because of the word ‘diverse’. While [...]

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