The Man in Charge of Higher Education

Good to see that we now have a Department of Education back rather than some collection of letters which we don't quite understand.  That said, also interesting that Higher Education is to remain in Business (which could indicate a perception that it is an economic tool rather than an educational one) which poses a few questions.  Good news for HE, I suppose, is that it ultimately comes under a Lib Dem rather than a Tory which might look at it more kindly (though don't hold your breath in these 'hard times').  Not confirmed but it will probably be David Willettts will become Universities Minister carrying on his shadow role.  A thoughtful man but be interested to see what happens now he has to implement all that he talked about in opposition. 

In other post-election revelations, there has been some guidance on what policies to expect on tuition fees from the Con-Lib coalition after the Browne review: basically some sort of tuition fees but the coalition partners can go there own way in voting terms.  Also looking very likely that the Research Excellence Framework (assessing the quality of the UK's research) will be delayed by a year or two. 

Just the small question of those budget cuts now ...