04 July 2018 
Karel Thomas, Executive Director
There were over 200 people yesterday (Tuesday 3rd July) at the Royal College of Physicians for Wonkhe’s conference on Fees, Funding and the future of Higher Education, “Proceed with Caution”. Working in Higher Education can sometimes feel like being “trapped in the suspended animation” of a two-dimensional sign, but yesterday’s conference reminded us how multi-dimensional our world is. The line-up of speakers was impressive, which is testament to Team Wonkhe’s credibility and influence, and the audience was also a glittering list of “wonks”, administrators, academics and interested “stakeholders”. The morning was packed with graphs, stats and intellectual stimulation. Andrew McGettigan used algebra to prove his point about government accounting of student loans and if you have not read his articles, you should – they are fascinating. As you follow his arguments that the recognition conventions of student loans, their write-off and the interest payable are flawed, you will soon see why politicians are keen to dismiss his work. Philip Augar appeared on stage to say as much as he could about the current Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, and left the audience feeling that he was genuinely interested in the sector, impressed by what he had seen for himself and would produce a measured and balanced report. The views of some speakers and delegates on what the Government would do with the report were, predictably mixed. Philip’s story of Barclays, published today, will probably fall more naturally into the gripping-read category.
