Marc Rothera

Supporting UK businesses of all sizes to set up #HigherEducation work-based training programmes including #Apprenticeships #OnlineLearning #CPD

General interest in #HigherEducation #WorkBasedLearning #BusinessGrowth #LearningAndDevelopment #Skills #Manufacturing #Engineering #Construction #BuiltEnvironment #Careers #Education #EduTooter #Apprenticeships

I'm based in #Cambrdge #UK (#EastAnglia)

Our Apprenticeships: https://www.aru.ac.uk/study/degree-apprenticeships/employer/our-courses
Current apprenticeship vacancies: https://www.aru.ac.uk/study/degree-apprenticeships/employer/current-vacancies
Why our employers choose us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_MrSNSZ9Kg

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ruskin_marc_at_mastodon.world@momostr.pink

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Published at

2026-11-02T14:29:46Z

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Last Notes

2026-05-18 09:01:17 UTC

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Interesting that Auntie even cross-reference their un-critical republishing of the press release from the Kent / Greenwich merger / rescue and run with the similarly positive spin here too.
There's a, not implausible, line of (future) history that ends up with all universities either being Oxford or Cambridge, as everyone in the media and govt 'knows' they are the best (because they feed the govt and media), so the quality of all universities would be raised by being one of them...

2026-03-13 09:43:34 UTC

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Fiscal drag on the repayment threshold was the big 'rug-pull' IMO
The threshold is so low it flips the scheme from a 'micro-hypothecated tax' to basic rent-seeking.
It also feels unfair that income tax and loan repayments are calculated on the same figure, like they've maintained the 'graduates do better so pay more tax' model and given themselves the 'you should pay for the benefit you get that others don't' version too.

2026-01-20 11:55:05 UTC

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An academic colleague told me that students are increasingly 'ferociously strategic' in their approach to Uni work.
They understand which marks make up their final degree and aggressively pursue those. The transcripts of these learners is wild, there is no 'middle ground' they smash the modules they need (to get the proportion of grades they need for a 'first') and then all but ignore everything else.
Unintended consequences from commodifying education whodathunk?!

2025-10-07 07:19:33 UTC

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When student loans were paid out of general taxation the argument was that graduates do better, earn more and pay more tax (so do ultimately pay for their studies).
Fee Loans hypothecate that tax, but those graduates' income tax remains the same, so are they now paying twice?

2025-10-07 07:04:45 UTC

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Tuition fee loans are a sort of micro hypothecated tax - the sleight of hand is that their repayment is calculated on gross income, rather than net of income tax (or income tax being net of the loan repayment), so if you do well from uni (as you should) you'll pay more income tax and repay your student loan quicker. IMO that's unfair.

2025-10-06 14:22:30 UTC

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According to the BofE inflation calculator £9k in 2012 money is now £13,055.
Tuition fees are currently £9,535. That's quite a lot of fiscal drag.
Browne was poorly implemented, without his (sensible) suggestion for uncapped fees (underwritten by the unis) then the outcome of prestigious unis dropping entry reqs and bankrupting less prestigious unis was apparent (to me at least) from all the way back in 2012, it took longer than I thought, but it's here.

2025-08-20 09:23:25 UTC

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We're all 'recruiting universities' now.
Have you noticed the rising level of 'uni is a scam' 'graduate premium is a lie' type think pieces?
Billionaire capital has realised there's another (essentially) public asset that it doesn't yet own and is therefore contributing to its distress, in the hope of a firesale, and the inevitable asset stripping, debt loading and rent seeking that follows.

2025-06-17 13:30:38 UTC

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Certainly the most famous (and for that tambourine that seems to be in almost as many things as Funky Drummer) but the better Lyn Collins / JB track IMO is 'Mama Feelgood'

2025-06-16 11:56:15 UTC

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I've skimmed the article but can't see a recomendation for what an appropriate ratio would be?
For a few years now this has been my fantasy (nominally) single issue political party 'The 20:1 Party' with no upper limit on earning potential simply a mandatory 'rising tide raises all ships' policy.
Once I'm done with that you can have government back ;-)
I says 'nominally single issue' because for my money fixing this fixes a whole bunch of other stuff by default.

2025-05-21 13:17:51 UTC

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It's great that they're focussed on important stuff, like fishing (~10k people and £1.7bn exports) rather than smaller operations like HE (~768k jobs, £71bn GVA and £116bn general economic output)....
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fishing-industry-in-2022-statistics-published
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/higher-education-contribution-to-the-economy-and-levelling-up/

2025-05-01 08:39:49 UTC

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Afaict it's still happening.
Just yesterday I cleared the final administrative hurdle to be able to offer a (highly) specialist #apprenticeship programme for #PaediatricAudiologists to enhance the skills of the workforce already in place and help bring up folk working in the area who want to progress their careers.
Publicity materials and website are being updated atm, but if anyone wants to know any more right now, then just get in touch with me.

2025-04-23 08:54:35 UTC

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Much appreciated, thanks Prof.
Any employer with any sort of sense of purpose (beyond just the bottom line) has an incredible opportunity, through apprenticeships, to drive meaningful & lasting change.
My career has moved from Youth Work, to HE Widening Participation to Apprenticeships, I believe I've done more, for the people I was trying to enable with #apprenticeships than I could have in the first 2.
We see so many 'rough diamonds' shine with the right chances!

2025-04-23 08:36:07 UTC

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BTW, anyone who employs people in England and thinks:
'yeah, I could offer #apprenticeships for people from 'non-traditional' backgrounds'
lemme know.
Broadening access to advanced skills development is entirely my bag, I want to work with you.

2025-04-23 08:29:07 UTC

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IMO the single best line in that piece is:
Pay “We have a pay differential of no more than 12 times [higher than] the lowest paid.”
The only way to assure that a rising tide carries all ships.

2025-03-13 13:12:36 UTC

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And more so when we recall that the computer, built to discover the 'ultimate question', planet earth has it's programme messed up by the 'Golgafrinchams' who dispensed of 1/3rd of their population in an ark (that crashes in to Earth) containing middle managers and telephone sanitisers (the remaining 'ubermench' are anihillated by a disease contracted from a dirty phonebox).
I think the only thing he got wrong was picking on digital watches rather than cars!

2025-03-13 12:53:50 UTC

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I see Daniel Tunkelang was 2 years ahead of me in the thought( and far more graceful than I could be in the exposition) of how right #DouglasAdams was (once again)
https://dtunkelang.medium.com/the-ultimate-question-f09ff8905283