1/ Jo Johnson, former Universities minister and now no longer a Tory MP, has waded into the #Covid19 and UK HE debate with "What will higher education look like after coronavirus?" Let& #39;s take a look

TLDR: It& #39;s not good
#WeAreTogether #MadeAtUni #LoveHE https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/what-will-higher-education-look-like-after-coronavirus">https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/what...
2/ Jo Johnson has been the "President& #39;s Professorial Fellow" since January 2020. People more familiar with the Tories& #39; HE "worldview" will know better than I do how representative Johnson& #39;s views are with respect to the Tories& #39; UK HE "endgame" https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/jo-johnson-to-join-kings-college-london-as-presidents-professorial-fellow">https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/jo-j...
3/ The basic facts should now be familiar. International students will tank (50%? 75%? 100%) for UK HE in 2020-21. Johnson: the government will choose between "costly bailouts" and "disorderly failure".
4/ Russell Group innit
5/ Access to OfS stabilisation fund will be subject to strict conditions e.g. "phased closure of poor-quality and low-value courses under teach-out arrangements to ensure that students can complete their studies". Nice.
6/ The "Johnson cap" seems different from the "UUK cap". "UUK cap" was: 2020-1 forecast + 5% increase. "Johnson cap": 2019 student levels + "say 5 to 10% increase". Neither of these are "caps" in any meaningful sense.
7/ Jo Johnson suggests that if the government thinks you are a "weaker institution", then you can go fuck yourselves. Also Johnson seems to be hinting that "weaker institutions" (as opposed to RG institutions?) have been lobbying for sector-wide student number controls.
8/ Johnson: if the government thinks your university is "offering poorer quality and outcomes" and is "further down the reputational, quality and outcomes pecking order", then you can get fucked--"it is certainly not in the student interest".
9/ The usual Tory line that student number controls were a "cap on aspiration"
10/ Jo Johnson& #39;s "Crisis into an opportunity": "online, distance-learning and blended courses" baby! There& #39;s some other stuff that Johnson said about "intra-regional study" which I couldn& #39;t be bothered to analyse myself.
11/11 *Headdesk*
You can read the full thing for yourself here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/what-will-higher-education-look-like-after-coronavirus">https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/what...
BONUS/ and as a colleague has just reminded me, "this is all going according to plan; we& #39;ve just brought the timetable forward" #Covid19
You can follow @acupunctureUSS.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: