8 July: A former Access to Higher Education student – who has just been awarded a first-class honours degree – talks about how the AHE Diploma changed her life.

10 July: College Online's Rod Bristow tells HEPI: "There is a clear and present danger that AI will undermine learning if high-stakes assessments relying on coursework do not keep pace with the reality of AI. This is a risk yet to be gripped by regulators. There is also little evidence that, for example, AI will ever replace the inspiration of human teachers, and those saying their solutions will do so must make a very strong case. Technology companies can help, but they can also do harm… Much has been written about the potential for technology and especially AI to change what people need to learn. A popular narrative is that skills will be more important than knowledge; that knowledge can be so easily searched through the internet or created with AI, there is no need for it to be learned. Skills do matter, but these statements are wrong. We should not choose between skills and knowledge. Skills are a representation of knowledge. With no knowledge or expertise, there is no skill. More than that, in a world in which AI will have an unimaginable impact on society, we should remember that knowledge provides the very basis of our ability to think and that human memory is the residue of thought."

8 July: HEPI publishes the Unite Students Applicant Index, which, according to THE, shows "well-being among students preparing to enter UK higher education has reached its highest level since the pandemic but improvements have mostly been witnessed among those from overseas, with domestic counterparts lagging behind". Wonkhe's Jim Dickinson also looks at the survey's findings and notes that "only 32 per cent of those applying to university this year say that interest in their chosen subject was among the top motivations for going to university" – and that "this has fallen from 52 per cent in 2019".

9 July: Wonkhe announces the launch of a new project to "explore the link between module feedback and NSS outcomes". Offering his own deep dashboard dive into this year's NSS results, David Kernohan supposes: "As ammunition to allow you to solve problems in your own provider, to identify places to learn from, and iterate your way to happier and better educated students [the NSS] is unsurpassed. It's never really convinced as a regulatory tool, and (on a limb here) the value for applicants only really comes as a warning away from places that are doing outstandingly badly." THE notes that, although overall results have improved, particular issues with organisation and management have arisen for some providers. The Herald observes that student satisfaction at Scottish providers is rising, but remains below pre-pandemic levels.

8 July: Blogging for HEPI, London Economics' Jack Booth and Maike Halterbeck consider HESA's latest finance figures, noting that 40 per cent of providers posted a negative net cash flow from operating activities after finance costs, and that the average surplus had reduced over five years from 6.1 per cent to just 0.5 per cent. They also find that a fifth of providers had fewer than the 30 liquidity days ("days of average cash expenditure that can be covered by cash and equivalents") required by the Office for Students, and that 17 had none. Meanwhile, THE covers the findings of a survey of university leaders conducted by PA Consulting which shows that providers are planning for reduced increases in student numbers – with a fifth looking at institutional mergers. Wonkhe's David Kernohan supposes the survey shows "it's getting scary out there". 

9 July: RPN talks with QAA's Vicki Stott: "In circumstances where financial constraints, political rhetoric, recruitment of international students, all of those things collide to create a perfect storm for vice-chancellors who might already be looking at their balance sheets and worrying about things, it seems to me that there are things that you can do to protect your offering and to underwrite your offering."

6 July: THE carries concerns, voiced in a report from Dundee and Cambridge, as to the English proficiency of international students who have taken online language tests to gain entry to UK HEIs. 

9 July: THE covers the launch of a new British Council scheme to train international recruitment agents in an attempt to safeguard the reputation of UK higher education.

7 July: Paul Miller, the founder of London's Institute for Equity, University Centre (which runs MBAs in leadership for equity, diversity and organisational development) tells THE that the current "environment of significant risk and hostility" to EDI makes such work "more vital". Meanwhile, BBC News talks with UWE's Emmanuel Adukwu about initiatives to increase diversity in academic staffing. And former Labour minister, master of Pembroke College and candidate for the Cambridge chancellorship Chris Smith tells The Independent of the importance of freedom of speech in universities: "At their best, our universities are not echo chambers or political tools: they are places where ideas are tested, debated, challenged and refined. They are engines of intellectual freedom. And when that freedom is under threat, someone must be willing to speak up."