Johnny Rich

Johnny Rich

@johnnyrich.com

Director, ResearchPlus Also: CEO, PushTalks | Author (The Human Script and other works) | Speaker | #HigherEd Specialist Personal account - any views are all my own fault. Web: johnnyrich.com

1.2K followers481 following1K posts

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

I was asked if I would ever just stare at myself in a mirror. I replied that I could see myself doing it. #weakendpun

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

On balance, the UK government and EU are right to try to find a way through this complex issue without harming the universities or students that will deliver these benefits. The gains are well worth chasing.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

(By the way, any views expressed above are purely personal, not necessarily the view of any organisation I represent.)

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Of course, financials aren't the only factor here. On one hand, greatly increasing EU student numbers would challenge local provision in terms of housing, support etc, and the balance above involves the displacement of UK students by EU ones, which is, to say the least, politically sensitive.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

On the other, international students of all kinds are a huge economic, social and cultural boost to the UK and facilitate ongoing soft power and trade benefits.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

2) Reciprocal EU mobility such that home students can study outside the UK and will choose to do so in sufficient numbers to mean that there is space at UK unis for more EU students to come in, but not in such great numbers that outflows aren't greatly outweighed by inflows.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

That's a knife-edge calculation and we don't have enough data or understanding to predict the elasticity of different price points.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Meanwhile, if greater youth mobility cuts both ways, home student leaving the UK to study in the EU might make the financial problems of the imminent demographic dip in the UK even worse.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

From a purely financial perspective, the outcome that UK unis need to see is: 1) EU fees set at a rate that's high enough to deliver a modest marginal return, but low enough to attract to a lot more EU students And...

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

That's still a huge loss relative to their current position, unless the demand from EU students rises sufficiently to cancel out the loss.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

However, if EU fees genuinely are set at *marginal* cost, then demand can't cancel out the loss: however many EU students you have, the critical loss stays the same; it's just made across a greater number of students.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

If fees for EU student suddenly plunge to home student levels, then those unis lose a big slice of their income – certainly enough to mean yet more job losses and course closures, but possibly enough to just make the whole operation non-viable.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

The option being touted instead is to peg EU student fees lower than international fees, so unis don't make a surplus on them, but higher than home students, so they don't make a loss.

Johnny Rich reposted

Rob Ford
@robfordmancs.bsky.social

It would seem the Home Office has now acquired the ability to impose, without visibility or accountability, shadow bans on students coming to British universities from particular countries. How? Because of the interaction between indiv visa decisions (made by HO alone) and visa rules for unis 1/?

Edward@fornbirkibeinn.bsky.social

Anecdotally what seems to be happening is that the Home Office is refusing all student visa applications from certain countries. The Treasury should have told them to knock if off years ago but at this point the FCO needs to tell them to stop trying to cause an international incident.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

An insightful and far-sightedblog from @davephoenix.bsky.social on @hepi-news.bsky.social today. A must-read for anyone who thinking about how HE regulation should be reformed to deliver what the nation needs from the sector www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/10/10/w...

hepi.ac.ukWEEKEND READING: HERA 2.0: aligning higher education regulation with England's integrated skills economy - HEPIThis blog was kindly authored by Professor Dave Phoenix, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University. The Higher Education and Research Act (HERA) 2017 fundamentally reshaped the English higher education s...
Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Glad to hear Lucy Powell express commitment to FE and HE: “We'll make sure that young people today see the value of going to university too. The future requires more, not less, highly qualified young people." (I can’t help wishing she’d said ‘fewer’ not ‘less’ though.) #LabConf26

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

I always make soup with my sibling. I cut the vegetables and he makes the stock. He’s my brother. #weakendpun

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

There is no need for universities to call for #MinimumEntryRequirements when they can set their own. Universities should be arguing for the protection of the had-worn autonomy over admissions enshrined in the HE & Research Act. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/researc...

timeshighereducation.comResearchPlus at odds with Russell Group on minimum entry standardsHead of new mission group for smaller ‘research-led’ universities rejects minimum tariff and differential fee plans endorsed by larger institutions
Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

“Fewer, longer grants” is inconsistent with the Government's stated aim of growth in every postcode. Research sparks innovation, and businesses establish or scale up near where that research happens. Investing in research is investment in a place. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/larger-...

timeshighereducation.com‘Larger, fewer grants’ could harm Burnham’s regional agendaChanges to grant system suggested by Chris McDonald could ‘mistakenly’ further concentrate funding in the golden triangle, academics warn
Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

If funding is over-concentrated in too few places – a narrow set of universities or only to researchers already identified as successful – it would undermine the wider ecosystem in which world-leading research in different fields is found throughout the country.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Around the UK, excellent research in many universities sits alongside education that develops the skilled workforce needed to turn innovation in growth. The minister may think he is being strategic with finite funds, but following this strategy too far would drive less growth, not more.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Why did the rabbi catch a taxi to synagogue when he heard the blowing of the ram’s horn? Because he was shofar-driven. #weakendpun L’Shanah tovah.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

I’m having one of those moments when my pedantry distracts me from the real outrage. Reform UK’s statement claims they are “victims of a hoax perpetuated by climate change activists”. Aaaargh! They mean “perpetrated”.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

The shiny fabric used to upholster my armchair wasn’t the right choice. It’s all worn out because it was sat in. #weakendpun

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Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

If not, she should retire this tired and meaningless cliché especially since I have never heard anyone come up with a solid example of a supposed 'Mickey Mouse course' that bears even the slightest scrutiny.

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Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Golf is an industry worth over £5Bn to the UK in direct revenues, quite apart from the additional tourism, etc it generates. That's about 5x the fishing industry. Did she really mean to compare such a valuable sector to a rodent? (Donald Trump, among others, might beg to differ.)

randa.orgConsumer spending by UK golfers increase to £5.1 billionSpending by golfers in the United Kingdom has grown to £5.1 billion in 2019, the equivalent of £964 per adult golfer, according to an independent report.
Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

And since I've mentioned it (well, she did first), that cartoon rodent is also quite valuable. Mickey Mouse appears on $80Bn of merchandise alone annually, the ears symbol is arguably the most recognised brand globally and Disney Corp is the world's 120th most valuable corporation.

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Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

She's elevating ignorance to a virtue and demanding we all remain ignorant too lest we learn something inconvenient to Reform's political agenda.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Second she cites "Golf Course Management"… ...which doesn't exist (AFAIK), although several unis run degrees in Golf Management, including a BSc at Birmingham (in association with the PGA) and an MSc at Ulster described below. Sounds very useful to me.

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Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

With any subject where there's a vast body of scholarship, only those with at least some familiarity with it should pronounce on its value.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Unless Braverman has read at least some Moore, Kristeva, Butler et al, she's probably no more qualified to talk about the value of gender studies than someone who dismisses physics because they've never heard of forces, matter and dimensions.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

First, she says, "I don't agree with Gender Studies being taught". That sounds like thought police to me and counter to everything she has previously said about the importance of Free Speech, especially in academia.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

Braverman might think students shouldn't *choose* Gender Studies (and there is a valid argument about whether student demand should dictate supply), but that's not what she said.

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

I joined a brass band, but they kicked me out when I turned up with a potato. They said they didn’t need a tuber player. #weakendpun

Johnny Rich
@johnnyrich.com

A friend was going to have gender reassignment surgery but changed his mind at the last minute. The doctor said he was a near miss. #weakendpun