Useful Websites for Higher Education
Staff and students who wish to follow the latest news on higher education matters, may find the list below useful. It provides links to a number of key media who publish in the area of HE.
Staff and students are welcome to contact the Public Affairs Officer and HE Today Co-Editor, Alex Miles with suggestions for other useful websites.
Please click on the below to expand the lists...
- BBC Education
- Education Guardian
- Guardian Higher Education Network - home of all things HE, a online network of blogs and resources
- Huffington Post
- Independent Education
- Inside Higher Ed - major US Higher Ed magazine
- jobs.ac.uk
- Times Higher Education
- Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
- Research Councils for England
(The strategic partnership of the UK's seven Research Councils.) - Arts and Humanities Research Council
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Economic and Social Research Council
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Medical Research Council
- Natural Environment Research Council
- NESTA - former QUANGO now innovation funding charity
- Science and Technology Facilities Council
Information on internal and external funding opportunities is available from Research Support Services' website:
- American Council on Education (ACE)
An organisation representing the presidents and chancellors of all types of US degree-awarding institutions. - Association of African Universities
The AAU exists to help African universities to communicate and cooperate with each other - Association of American Universities
The AAU focuses on issues that are affecting research-led American universities. - European Higher Education Area (EHEA)
The official Bologna process website, helping to create more comparable, compatible and consistent higher education systems in Europe. - European University Association (EUA)
Represents and supports higher education institutions in 46 countries, providing them with a forum for collaboration and information on the latest trends in higher education and research policies. - Group of 8 (Go8)
Australia's leading universities. - The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE)
A site drawing together information on practices in universities around the world. - OECD Higher Education
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's education section.
- Guild HE
Formal representative organisation for the UK's universities. - Million+
University think-tank and membership organisation working to solve the complex problems in higher education. - The M5 Group (link to THE article about M5 Group)
The M5 group, comprising the universities of Birmingham, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick, is centred on sharing equipment
- The N8 Group
The N8 Research Partnership is a collaboration of the eight most research intensive universities in the North of England: Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York. - The Russell Group
Representing the 20 leading UK research universities. - University Alliance
Representing 24 Modern, Business-facing universities - Universities UK
Formal representative organisation for the UK's universities. - Universities West Midlands
Regional grouping of universities for the West Midlands - White Rose ConsortiumThe White Rose University Consortium (White Rose) is a strategic partnership between 3 of the UK's leading research universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York.
- 1994 Group
Representing the 'small and beautiful' research-focused institutions
- Association for Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA)
- Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR)
- Association of University Administrators (AUA)
- Association of University and Industry Links (AURIL)
Knowledge exchange and transfer advocacy body - Big Innovation Centre
Spin-out think-tank from the Work Foundation after it was bought by Lancaster - British Academy
The UK's national body for the Humanities and Social Sciences. - Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
Business lobby group - Centre for Cities
City and urban research think-tank - Centre for Social Justice
Centre-ground think-tanks - Centre Forum
Lib-dem affiliated think-tank - Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
Global membership body for alumni, marketing and comms professionals working in HE - Council for Industry and HE (CIHE)
A network of blue chip companies working with universities. - CORDIS
Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) provides information on all EU-supported research and development activities. - Demos
Left-wing/ centre think-tanks focusing on social policy - Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges
- GovNet
Business that runs high-level conferences for policy-makers - The Higher Education Academy (HEA)
Provides support to UK universities and colleges to enhance the student experience. - Higher Education Better Regulation Group (HEBRG)
A group aiming to reduce the administrative burden on HE - Higher Education Careers Service Unit (HECSU)
- Higher Education External Relations Association (HEERA)
- Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI)
The UK's only independent think tank, focusing exclusively on higher education. - Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
The official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher - Industry and Parliament Trust
Charity working within parliament to help support MPs knowledge and links with industry - Inside Government
Off-shoot of GovNet - Institute for Education (University of London)
- Institute for Government
Think-tank focusing on government process - Institute for Knowledge Transfer (IKT)
Membership group for KT professionals - Institute of Directors (IoD)
- Intergenerational Foundation
Equality-focused charity - International Student Barometer (ISB)
An independently run, confidential feedback survey for international students.education. - IPPR/ IPPR North
Labour-affiliated think-tank - JISC
Quango funded by HEFCE to improving HE information services and technology - jobs.ac.uk
Website for science, research, academic and administrative employment in the UK and abroad. Vacancies in universities, colleges, research institutions, commercial and public sector, schools and charities. - Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE)
The Leadership Foundation provides a dedicated service of support and advice on leadership, governance and management for all the UK’s universities and Higher Education colleges. - The Leverhulme Trust
Provides funding for research projects, fellowships, studentships, bursaries and prizes across all academic disciplines. - National Academy for Academic Leadership (NAAL)
- National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE)
- National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE)
- National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE)
- National Educational Opportunities Network (NEON)
- The National Union of Students (NUS)
The voluntary membership organisation representing students. The NUS is a confederation of 600 students' unions, amounting to more than 95 per cent of all higher and further education unions in the UK. - Neil Stewarts Associates
Business providing conferences and workshops for policymakers - Office for Fair Access (OFFA)
Regulatory body for access and widening participation in higher education
- Policy Exchange
Conservative-affiliated think-tank - Politea
Conservative-affiliated think-tank - Public Policy Exchange
Events and workshops business affiliated to Dods Consultancy - Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
- Reform
Labour-affiliated think-tank - A Fellowship of eminent scientists and the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
- Smith Institute
Free-market think-tank - Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)
- Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA)
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Educational equalities-focused think-tank
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Teach First
Influential charity aiming to get high-flying graduates working in inner-city schools in conjunction with major recruiters - The Education Foundation
Charity focusing on improving inequalities in education - UCAS
The organisation responsible for managing applications to higher education courses in the UK. - UK Council for International Student Affairs
The UK's national advisory body serving the interests of international students and those who work with them. - UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE)
- Understanding Modern Government
Off-shoot of GovNet - Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA)
Membership group supporting Universities and Colleges in employee and pension policy issues - Universities and Colleges Union (UCU)
Main trade union body for HE - Universities Human Resources (UHR)
Professional membership body for HR professionals - Westminster Briefing
Business providing conferences and events - Westminster HE Forum
Business providing conferences and events for policy development in the HE sector - Work Foundation
- All Party Parliamentary Group for Universities
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Government department with responsibility for higher education policies. - House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee
- Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG)
- Department of Education (DoE)
- House of Commons Education Select Committee
- House of Commons Public Accounts Committee
- House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee
- House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee
- House of Lords Science and Technology Sub-Committee I
- Technology and Strategy Board
The innovation funding council
The University is not responsible for any content or views on these sites - although we will try and keep this list up-to-date:
- Alumni Futures
Blog about philanthropy and alumni relations from the US - gone a bit quiet recently - A University Blog
Broad, HE-Policy and Strategy blog from Robert Gordon's V-C - BUFDG Blog
Sign-up to receive the Finance Director's weekly HE digest - not just for £-workers - Chronicle of Higher Education
Warwick's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nigel Thrift, writes a regular blog for the Chronicle's Worldwise international blog, which features commentary from a range of international higher-education thinkers.
- The Common Room
The HE Blog of the Australian - Critical Education
Excellent blog on the technical details of HE policy development and some pretty good journalism too - Education On-Tap
A must-subscribe - a daily up-date on all education stories in the UK press - Followers of the Apocalypse
Sometimes polemic, but always well evidenced policy blog by a JISC-er - Foreign Students
A blog for international students in the UK - Global HigherEd
Surveying the Construction of Global Knowledge/Spaces for the ‘Knowledge Economy’ - Going Further and Higher
The SGH Martineau Blog about HE legal stuff and beyond - Guardian HE Blog Network
A huge range of opinion writing from across the sector in the UK and beyond - Higher Education Management
Innovation, Management & Strategy for Higher Ed Leaders - a cerebral approach
- HE Planning Blog
A blog about planning, funding and regulatory issues in English Higher Education
- LSE Impact Blog
Excellent and vibrant blog about Impact, social sciences research and government research policy - Martin Hall's V-C Blog
Wide-ranging Blog from Salford's V-C - The Pearson Think-Tank
Some attempted thought-leadership from one of the world's biggest private education providers - QS Intelligence Unit
Lots on rankings and global HE trends from QS (a rankings business) - Registrarism
Nottingham Registrar's Blog - True Crime on Campus is a particular highlight - Research Blogs
Expert blogs from the Research Fortnight Team and wider contributors - lots on economic policy - Research Counselling
HE-related cartoonage from Dro-Mo - Research Fundermentals
Light-hearted look at the highlights and insights from the wonderland of UK research funding - WonkHE
Home of HE Wonks - hosting blogs about all things HE Policy - University Ranking Watch
Observation, scrutiny and cynicism of HE rankings - UUK Blog
UUK staff blogging about everything Universities
You can keep automatically updated with news from these sites by creating an RSS account and subscribing to RSS feeds.
The only thing that you really need for an RSS account is a reader to be able to subscribe to feeds. The reader is commonly known as a feed reader, news reader, RSS reader or RSS client. The reader lets you subscribe to any feeds you are interested in, checks for updates and displays them to you as they arrive.
There are several readers available and they come in two forms - web-based or as an installable program. The web-based clients enable you to access your feeds from wherever you are, by just logging into the website that manages your feeds. For example, web-based ones include Google Reader, Bloglines and Newsgator Online, all of which are free clients for feed reading, but there are many more out there with a lot of different features.
An installed program still allows for your feeds to be stored for you, even if you're not connected to the Internet. There are several that are totally free or at least free to try out. Two of the most popular for installing on your computer are FeedDemon or Newsgator for Microsoft Outlook and for those on a Mac with OS X, the most popular reader is NetNewsWire.
Once you have installed the news reader, all you need to do is follow these three steps:
Step 1: Click on the feed you are interested in from the list on the right of this page.
Step 2: Copy the URL that appears in the address bar of the page.
Step 3: Follow the instructions from your reader program to add the XML feed to your RSS list.
University members are welcome to contact internalcomms@warwick.ac.uk if you have suggestions for other useful websites.
RSS Feeds
- Times Higher Education
- BBC Education
- Education Guardian
- Independent Education
- HEFCE
- RCUK
- Arts and Humanities Research Council
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Economic and Social Research Council
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Medical Research Council
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Science and Technology Facilities Council
- Universities UK
- CORDIS (English)
- The Chronicle's WorldWise
- Higher Education Academy (HEA)
- Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
- British Academy (News of Fellows)
- The Royal Society
- The Leverhulme Trust
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills