Going Further And Higher - Education Podcast: Recent Episodes
Shakespeare Martineau
Hosted by Smita Jamdar who is joined by our education and legal specialists, Going Further And Higher offers you a deeper understanding of the current key topics influencing the education sector.In each episode, Smita will discuss topical issues impacting the further and higher education sector, aiming to spark debate, engage and inspire those working in the sector.With a long-standing involvement in and commitment to the education sector, Shakespeare Martineau's education team have extensive experience across all legal issues that affect education institutions, guiding and supporting our clients through challenges and opportunities.
In this episode Smita Jamdar and Joanna Forbes will discuss what new registration condition E6 will mean for institutions and identify some of the areas that are likely to be especially challenging such as partnerships, placements and freedom of speech.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.See all of our other episodes here.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.See all of our other episodes here.
In this episode, Smita Jamdar and Tom Long discuss what the new Government means for HE and FE and how the two sectors may need to adapt to meet a new policy agenda.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.See all of our other episodes here.
This episode was recorded before the General Election was announced.
Smita Jamdar is joined by Tom Long, Joanna Forbes and Mark Taylor to discuss the recommendations of a recent report advocating a more tertiary approach to HE and FE in England and the implications of universities and colleges voluntarily setting up tertiary groups.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.See all of our other episodes here.
In this episode Smita Jamdar and David Browne discuss the issue of protected beliefs, their intersection with other protected characteristics and with broader concepts such as freedom of speech and academic freedom, and why managing them on campus can be so challenging.
Content Warning - in this episode, Smita Jamdar and Geraldine Swantondiscuss the High Court’s conclusions on the appeal in the case of Natasha Abrahart –v- the University of Bristol and includes references to death by suicide and mental health.
The case considered various aspects of disability discrimination under the Equality Act and offered important clarifications for universities and colleges on their duties.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.
In this episode, Smita Jamdar is joined by colleagues Helen Dyke and Mark Taylor to look ahead to developments in law, policy and regulation that will affect HE and FE institutions in the year ahead, including new family and caring rights to leave, responsibilities to deal with workplace sexual harassment, and concerns around franchising.
In this episode Smita Jamdar and Geraldine Swanton examine a recent County Court judgment that concluded that the handling of a sexual misconduct case by a HEI was negligent.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.
In this episode Smita Jamdar and Geraldine Swanton review recent case law relating to the investigation and hearing of student disciplinary procedures involving sexual misconduct, explore some of the difficulties this creates for institutions in handling these complex cases and suggest what changes are needed to improve the ability of institutions to act fairly and robustly in future.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.
In this episode Smita Jamdar and Joanna Forbes discuss the rise of collaborative provision in higher education, explore the legal, policy and regulatory implications and consider how institutions can mitigate risk.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.
In this podcast, Smita Jamdar and Sean Moran reflect on how Boards should respond to a variety of risks caused by a challenging economic environment, from key supplier failure and subsidiary insolvency through to the insolvency of providers themselves, an area highlighted by the Office for Students as one of the key sector risks it seeks to manage.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.
In this episode Smita Jamdar and Andrew Hartshornconsider the case of Oxford University Innovation v Oxford Nanoimaging Limited [2022] EWHC 3200 (Pat), the extent to which PhD students are considered as consumers under the various consumer protection laws, the approach to evaluating unfairness of such terms in university contracts with students, the applicability or impact of consumer protection laws on terms relating to student intellectual property rights and what universities should do as a result.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.
In this episode, Smita Jamdar is joined by Andrew Adams, Litigation Partner, to further explore the freedom of speech on campus, specifically enforcing the rights on disgruntled students and staff, both by the current legislative framework and the higher education freedom of speech bill.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.
Content Warning - in this episode, Smita Jamdar and Geraldine Swantonare discussing HEIs’ current legal duties and the inherent limitations of any existing or new law to address the concerns of those who are affected by student self-harm.
Find out more or get in contact with our education team here.
In this group discussion episode, Smita Jamdaris joined by members of our firm's governance forum - Joanna Forbes, Catherine Rustomji, Maddie Cordes, and Rachel Gwynne looks at some of the key issues for university and college governance, to see whether they are found in other sectors and whether there is anything we can learn from looking across these common sectors.
Find out more about our education team here.
Recent developments relating to freedom of speech, academic freedom and the government's flagship legislation to protect the Higher Education Freedom of Speech bill.
Content Warning - in this episode, Smita Jamdar and Geraldine Swantonare discussing a judgment handed down in Bristol County Court in a really sad case involving the tragic suicidal death of a student, Natasha Abrahart. This case gives us some judicial interpretation of some areas of law that affect institutions more widely, so it is worth thinking about what we could learn from it.
Find out more about our education team here.
In this episode, Smita Jamdar and Tom Long discuss the new guide issued by universities UK published earlier this month about challenging culture and tackling sexual misconduct within higher education.
Find out more about our education team here.
[S1:Ep7] - In this episode, Smita Jamdar speaks to Mike Wills, Director of Strategy & Policy at cyber security company CSS Assure about the serious threats universities and colleges face and what they can do to protect themselves from cyber-attacks.
Find out more about our education team here.
[S1:Ep6] - In this episode, Smita Jamdar is joined by Geraldine Swanton, Joanna Forbes and Tom Long to discuss a range of issues that affected the sector in 2021 and their hopes (or fears) for the sector in 2022. This wide ranging discussion includes FE and skills policy, academic governance and student engagement, freedom of speech, levelling up, mandatory vaccination and even what it means to be a human.
Have a great Christmas and New Year and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2022.
Find out more about our education team here.
[S1:Ep5] - In this episode, Smita Jamdar and Joanna Forbes discuss the question of remuneration of university and college governors, a long running debate in the sector. We consider the motivation for paying governors and the legal constraints on doing so. In particular, we discuss whether remuneration of governors can create actual and/or perceived conflicts of interest, affect the collective nature of the responsibility of governors and change the dynamic between governors and the institution. We also discuss how else the diversity and workloads of governing bodies can be improved.
Find out more about our education team here.
[S1:Ep4] - In this episode, Smita Jamdar and Geraldine Swanton consider the question of the duty of care owed by universities to their students. Although a legally flexible and responsive concept, the duty of care nonetheless has its limits. However, as the context of the relationship evolves, so too does the boundary of the duty. We ask the question: where does the line of duty end?
Find out more about our education team here.
[S1:Ep3] - In this podcast, Smita Jamdar and David Browne discuss the tranche of amendments that are currently being debated by the Public Bill Committee in relation to the higher education Freedom of Speech bill, specifically relating to the definition of academic freedom.
Find out more about our education team here.
[S1:Ep1] - In episode one of our Going Further & Higher podcast, Smita Jamdar and Geraldine Swanton look at Mandatory vaccines, student protection problems & the Turing Scheme.
Find out more about our education team here.
[S1: Ep2] - 2021 was another atypical admissions cycle, with record numbers of students meeting their conditional offers. Smita Jamdar and Catherine Savage discuss the legal and regulatory ramifications for universities. Those institutions that have unexpectedly large numbers of successful applicants will need to consider the impact on both new and existing students. Courses, where there has been unexpectedly low recruitment, may need to be changed, or cancelled. And for subjects with externally imposed caps, the room for manoeuvre is restricted from both a financial and a practical perspective.
Find out more about our education team here.