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David Kernohan

@dkernohan

Him off of @Wonkhe. Sky Cards Rare Master.

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22.09.2023
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Latest posts by David Kernohan @dkernohan

I think that might in fact have been John McVie - the "Mac" bit of Fleetwood Mac?

06.03.2026 11:43 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW on Wonkhe: Student visa restrictions for four countries buff.ly/pR3uIgr

04.03.2026 12:00 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Buckets, innit.

03.03.2026 15:49 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Daft post to make a serious point. Discover Uni is a really valuable resource for applicants and others considering higher education, and we should maybe tell people about it on occasion.

02.03.2026 16:55 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You'll never believe(*) where I found that secret LEO salary data that "looking for growth" keep banging on about!

wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...

* you will, in fact, probably not be that shocked.

02.03.2026 16:53 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW on Wonkhe: Plaid Cymru would launch an HE review in its first 100 days bit.ly/4aSOIHm

02.03.2026 10:01 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
But if the government had stuck firm to what we might call the technocratic approach to work visas, then there would remain a clear opportunity to marshall evidence in favour of international recruitment (while at the same time thinking seriously about the role of the higher education system in training the UK’s scientific, social, technical and cultural workforce, which isn’t a bad side-effect). Instead, Labour has continued to gesture at this via increases to the cost of the visa system and employing overseas staff, while in other areas – particularly, but not only, in the routes to settlement consultation – it has given in to populist tendencies that have little to do with what’s best for the UK either as an economy or a society, and everything to do with its political anxieties and factional power struggles.

But if the government had stuck firm to what we might call the technocratic approach to work visas, then there would remain a clear opportunity to marshall evidence in favour of international recruitment (while at the same time thinking seriously about the role of the higher education system in training the UK’s scientific, social, technical and cultural workforce, which isn’t a bad side-effect). Instead, Labour has continued to gesture at this via increases to the cost of the visa system and employing overseas staff, while in other areas – particularly, but not only, in the routes to settlement consultation – it has given in to populist tendencies that have little to do with what’s best for the UK either as an economy or a society, and everything to do with its political anxieties and factional power struggles.

An excellent analysis of immigration and the UK HE system by @wonkhe.bsky.social

wonkhe.com/blogs/immigr...

27.02.2026 07:06 πŸ‘ 28 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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NEW on Wonkhe: AI has yet to have a meaningful impact on the flourishing world of the open mic night. David Kernohan argues that this tells us a lot about learning, community, and finding joy buff.ly/Jna0rek

01.03.2026 12:00 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Stop letting students avoid the microphone Andrew Routledge explores why universities still let students opt out of speaking, and what a better model looks like Andrew Routledge explores why universities still let students opt out of speaking,...

πŸ“£ Competence standards klaxon! πŸ“£

I do really like the approach this article is talking about (we have something similar on some modules here). But we HAVE to talk about speaking and presenting skills in the legal context of competence standards

wonkhe.com/blogs/stop-l...

27.02.2026 08:58 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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Another 352 learners had a go on the LLE And yet the launch still appears to be going ahead

The LLE remains as popular as ever: wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...

26.02.2026 16:58 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This would count as evidence of impact in REF, I think?

21.02.2026 19:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

That's in the HESA release. I wanted to focus on numbers and contracts for this first piece, but I'll be doing something on those parts of the open data too.

20.02.2026 10:43 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

wonkhe.com/blogs/hesa-s...

20.02.2026 10:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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HESA Spring 2026: Staff In times of turmoil and upheaval in the sector what's happening with full time academic staff numbers? As David Kernohan explains, the picture is more complex than you may expect

The number of academic staff in UK HE declines for the first time in a decade. But the number of full time academics is the highest on record: wonkhe.com/blogs/hesa-s...

20.02.2026 08:51 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Great piece and great thread! Thanks for the tag.

I suspect the other factor here is the (very welcome) pattern of increases to the minimum wage. There is far less very low pay around in the UK, which - coupled with low wage growth in the wider economy - depresses the average graduate premium.

20.02.2026 08:47 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The other thing I've never been able to track (I understand UCU has tried and failed too) is the relationship between the number of announced redundancies and the number of actual redundancies after the consultation and the work of your union branch.

19.02.2026 11:35 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

HESA Staff data for 2024-25 just dropped. I'll have some dashboards on the site either later today or tomorrow. It's not the clearest look at this situation but probably the best available data.

19.02.2026 11:22 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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🧡/ With tactical voting ever more common, who do voters back when only two parties have a chance in their seat?

Con 31% v Ref 24%

Lab 35% v Ref 31%
Lab 29% v Con 28%

LD 41% v Ref 29%
LD 34% v Con 26%
LD 29% v Lab 21%
LD 26% v Grn 25%

Grn 42% v Ref 27%
Grn 37% v Con 29%
Grn 30% v Lab 20%

18.02.2026 09:41 πŸ‘ 187 πŸ” 85 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 79

Fee loan forgiveness for female graduates who have their first child before the age of 25. (Yuck)

18.02.2026 08:20 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW on Wonkhe: Updated financial data, 2024-25 buff.ly/ZICwwyA

16.02.2026 18:00 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW on Wonkhe: An out of court settlement brings legal action at UCL over pandemic and strike disruption to a close. Jim Dickinson explores why questions about variation, acts of god and liability remain unanswered. buff.ly/DtJFIzL

16.02.2026 16:24 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A beginner's guide to academic workload modelling David Kernohan introduces us to workload modelling - a contentious but little understood process that is a very visible part of academic life

What's likely less understood is that the data collected is only ever used in aggregate to make broad claims like the one in Hugh's post above. The quality of the data simply isn't good enough for nuance beyond a broad subject or faculty area.

Here's more things to read: wonkhe.com/blogs/a-begi...

16.02.2026 13:38 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Universities have a responsibility for the high street too Jess Lister surveys a nation in despair at the death of the high street and thinks universities can do something about it

Excellent from @jesslister.bsky.social today
wonkhe.com/blogs/univer...

16.02.2026 08:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Can there ever be a definitive graduate premium? With the pressures of the current loan repayment system, it feels like the graduate premium has never been more central to higher education policymaking - or more difficult to accurately estimate. Dav...

More reading and some lovely charts to play with: wonkhe.com/blogs/can-th...

15.02.2026 13:22 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The missing line on this chart is the growing value of the national minimum wage. Sustained policy action means that very low pay is now illegal, and that has an impact on the aggregate graduate premium.

15.02.2026 13:20 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW on Wonkhe: David Kernohan tracks the changes in the subject and provider spread of student numbers over ten eventful years in UK higher education buff.ly/tt4GQhk

15.02.2026 10:00 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW on Wonkhe: A new consultation from UCAS offers the chance to comment on application limits, insurance acceptances, and the use of deadlines. David Kernohan is ready to fill the form in. buff.ly/2HUKZb4

13.02.2026 07:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Timely on a day where universities are asked to sign up to an MOD-backed organisation that doesn't appear to officially exist in order to access additional OfS funding...

12.02.2026 11:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Apropos of nothing I thought I would look up what the Oxon University Reform Society had scheduled this term.

A Reform councillor, a Reform mayoral candidate, an anti-immigration campaigner, and a "critical friend" of Reform.

You can almost taste the diverse opinions.

issuu.com/oxunireform....

11.02.2026 15:27 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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There are some ideas we welcome, there are some we don’t allow We’re often told that β€œcancel culture” in universities is some kind of new phenomenon.

Nothing is new about the free speech stuff wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...

10.02.2026 18:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0