News Talks by Times Higher Education

As the University of Sussex celebrates legal victory against the Office for Students, we discuss what the ruling means for the future of the regulator. ---  The Office for Students (OfS) has been defeated in the High Court with its £585,000 fine, imposed on the University of Sussex for failing to protect free speech, overturned. In this episode of News Talks, find out what this landmark ruling could mean for the future of the UK’s higher education regulator. Times Higher Education editor Chris Havergal joins Miranda Prynne to talk through the key points upon which Mrs Justice Lieven found in Sussex’s favour, likely reactions to across the university sector and how this ruling might shape the future operations of the OfS.

After Péter Magyar’s landslide election victory, we discuss why restoring independence and academic freedom to Hungarian higher education may not be an easy task.  --- Right wing populist leader Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule in Hungary has come to an end after his rival Peter Magyar won a two thirds majority in the general election. Centre-right leader Magyar has promised to rebuild relations with Europe, tackle corruption and cronyism and restore academic freedom. On this episode of News Talks, Campus editor Miranda Prynne talks to Times Higher Education Europe reporter Seher Asif about why the ousting of Orbán may provoke mixed feelings among Hungary’s academics and higher education leaders, how the former populist leader reshaped the country’s universities and why reversing the Orbán era policies may not be a simple matter. The conversation also turns to what lessons the experience of Hungary’s universities might offer to other higher education systems around the world threatened with government hostility and interference.

As UK universities queue up to open new branch campuses in India, we discuss what has sparked this renewed enthusiasm for a form of transnational education (TNE) which was, until recently, considered moribund - and why many remain cynical about the chances of success Several UK, and Australian, institutions have launched, or are on the cusp of launching, new branch campuses in India, encouraged by the Indian government. The University of Southampton and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have both already started teaching in Delhi and Bangalore respectively with many others are hoping to follow suit in coming months. On this week’s podcast, THE news editor Tom Williams joins Campus editor Miranda Prynne to discuss what lies behind this surge of interest in setting up Indian outposts. Tom explains how these plans differ from the branch campuses of past years, the risks associated with setting up an institution in a new country and how the UK government's stance on internationalisation is impacting such efforts.

The far reaching reforms proposed by Australia’s Strategic Examination of Research and Development (Serd) have been widely welcomed by the country’s higher education sector – but how many will the government choose to adopt? On this week’s podcast, Miranda Prynne quizzes THE’s Asia Pacific editor John Ross about Serd’s key recommendations and the likelihood of such transformative – and expensive - changes to the funding and management of Australian research being enacted. Hear John explain the thinking behind this review and the problems it sets out to solve, as well as the areas of greatest concern for academics and policymakers and the general sentiment across Australian higher education today.

As proposals for the future Horizon Europe are scrutinised by the European Parliament, we discuss likely changes to the seven-year funding programme and whether it can support a coalition of like-minded powers amidst the current geopolitical upheaval. The next version of Horizon Europe, due to launch in 2028, is likely to show much greater alignment with EU economic and defence priorities, backed by the budget almost doubling to €175bn a year. The initial proposal put forward by the European Commission opens Horizon up to dual purpose and defence focused research and places more weight on research designed to drive EU competitiveness in key industries such as green energy and digital technologies. This week Miranda Prynne is joined by THE features editor Paul Jump to discuss how the planned changes could affect European research and the impact on Horizon’s flourishing global network of non-EU members such as the UK, Canada and Japan whose contributions currently make up around a third of Horizon’s total budget. Listen to Paul’s take on whether the new Horizon Europe will provide a platform for a stronger international network of like-minded middle powers, giving them more clout on the world stage, or if a closer focus on Europe’s needs will create tensions with non-EU members.

The number of international students enrolled on masters by research (MRes) courses more than doubled in the year after the government introduced a ban on dependent visas for other courses, new figures revealed this week. Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) data obtained by Times Higher Education show that there were 6,085 non-UK-domiciled students enrolled on MRes courses in the 2024-25 academic year – up from 2,485 in 2023-24.  This leaves the institutions behind such rises open to accusations of playing the system and using MRes courses as a way to circumvent the government’s visa rules. On this episode of News Talks, Miranda Prynne speaks to Times Higher Education deputy news editor Helen Packer, who has been covering the story, to find out what lies behind the rising MRes numbers, what the institutions driving the growth have said and the reaction from politicians and other sector leaders.

We discuss why the University of Sussex has mounted a legal challenge against a £585,000 fine imposed by the Office for Students (OfS) for failing to uphold freedom of speech. The case, being heard in the high court in London this week, brings to the fore questions over academic freedom, institutional autonomy, trans rights and EDI policies and the role of the OfS. On this episode of News talks, Times Higher Education editor Chris Havergal talks to Miranda Prynne about the background to the case, the key points upon which Sussex is disputing the OfS findings and the broader implications for universities and the way they are regulated.