The Wonkhe Show

About The Wonkhe Show

Every week the Wonkhe team and guests from across higher education dissect the week's big policy developments, and we also feature views from around the sector.

Publisher

Team Wonkhe

Category

education · government

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Nov 2018

Latest episode

12 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

84 of 291 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   12 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT

   MI5, Labour, free speech

   Mark Leach interviews Paul Kett, Ben Vulliamy, and Debbie McVitty about MI5's warning to universities regarding foreign interference, potential Labour leadership changes, and free speech concerns, exploring risks and responses in higher education.

2. 

   5 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Student loans, research funding, Wales

   Jim Dickinson interviews Vikki Howells, Ben Ward, and Smita Jamdar regarding student loans, research funding, and challenges in Welsh tertiary education, exploring potential solutions for higher education funding.

3. 

   29 Jan 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Demand, Disabled students, medicine

   This week on the podcast we examine what a rise in UK university applicants really tells us about the future demand for higher education. With UCAS reporting a 4.8 per cent increase in applications at the January deadline, driven largely by a demographic peak in 18-year-olds, we explore whether this represents a genuine resurgence in demand or a temporary population effect. Plus we discuss new evidence on disabled students’ experiences in higher education, including concerns that pandemic-era accessibility is being rolled back, and the implications of the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill — from pressure on NHS training places to uncertainty for students studying medicine abroad through UK-linked programmes. And Jim Dickinson is is in Canada with Wonkhe's Editor Debbie McVitty taking to Canadian HE expert Alex Usher. With Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief, Wonkhe, Alex Stanley, Vice President for Higher Education at the National Union of Students, Dani Payne, Head of Education and Social Mobility at the Social Market Foundation, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief, Wonkhe.

Inside a recent episode

MI5, Labour, free speech

Published 12 Feb 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And so I think that means what we shouldn't be doing is trying to, for one to have a better expression, kind of, repaint the color of the door to match that of the political party in the ascendancy, but what we should be able to do is tell our story in a way that speaks to changing political priorities and that that stands some of that. So, so I think the political act can have the ability to speak to different agendas and to, I don't mean this in a being, all things to all people, but at least explain our purpose in a way that speaks to where people are rather than just telling people we're a good thing, which I fear is slightly the the track we've fallen to in the past and we quote big numbers on economic impact and so on and that's, that's not what wins the argument, it's, is how do we connect? […]

Who has been a guest on The Wonkhe Show

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Paul Kett
• Ben Vulliamy
• Debbie McVitty
• Mike Ratcliffe
• Richard Brabner

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

34 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 55 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

73

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

95

Contact The Wonkhe Show

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about The Wonkhe Show