With chaos spreading out of the US thanks to the actions of the Trump administration and ongoing financial strife in the UK higher education sector, there has been plenty to keep our journalists busy over the course of 2025. Understandably, these issues feature highly alongside the usual hot-button topics such as international student mobility and early career struggles, but this year’s ����Vlog most-read list also throws up a couple of surprises.

15. Disquiet over ‘PhDs by publication’ diminishes doctorate’s prestige

PhD and early career issues are always of interest to THE readers and Brian Bloch, lecturer in English for academic research at the University of Münster, clearly hit a nerve with this piece in November. Germany, the spiritual home of the doctorate, is turning its back on what most regard as its cornerstone: the doctoral dissertation, Bloch writes. Instead more Germans are gaining their PhDs by publishing academic papers as they go, known as “cumulative doctorates” or “PhDs by publication” in other countries. Is this a long overdue shift that better suits the needs of a modern research system or a worrying trend that produces less-experienced graduates, Bloch asks. Either way, he feels that there is a need for more transparency or the prestige of a PhD will begin to fade.

14. Overseas master’s enrolments down 17 per cent, universities say

Changes in international student flows have dominated conversations this year. In the UK, the great slide in enrolments may have begun after visa changes in 2024 but it was this year when its effects were most keenly felt, as shown by the number of job cuts across the sector. This story reports on Office for Students figures released in March that showed the extent of recruitment woes. Other members of the global “big four” have similarly suffered, prompting much discussion of where students would go next if traditional destinations are becoming more closed off. In all the talk of who is up and who is down, it’s easy to lose sight of the people behind the numbers, with every missed enrolment representing a path not travelled or an opportunity lost. 

13. Plan for more ‘black swan events’ after cap ‘body blow’ – Gertler

Meric Gertler was one of the best-known faces in Canadian higher education before he stepped down in July after 12 years as president of the University of Toronto. He left at a time when Canada was digesting the impact of strict caps placed on international students and the chaos erupting under Donald Trump across the border. In this exit interview with Patrick Jack, Gertler warns of the potential for more “bad surprises” on the horizon. One surprise came a few weeks later with the victory of Mark Carney’s Liberal Party in the April election, which had once looked highly unlikely. Whether it was a good or bad surprise remains to be seen but to date Carney has resisted calls to abolish the caps, instead reducing them still further.

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12. X’s dominance ‘over’ as Bluesky becomes new hub for research

With academic Twitter having been on its last legs for some time, 2025 was surely the year when it finally died – aided in no small part by the actions of X owner Elon Musk, who aligned himself with the Trump regime’s attacks on universities. The demise has left a void for academics searching for public engagement. Although posts about research on X alternative Bluesky have been growing, as we reported in April, the platform has yet to reach anywhere near the heights of Twitter in its heyday. Instead it seems more likely that the era of the great market square vision for social media is over, with engagement instead spread out across any number of different platforms and websites, increasing the potential for siloed points of view.

11. Students win plagiarism appeals over generative AI detection tool

How to respond to the rise of generative artificial intelligence has become the defining issue of the decade, and it’s safe to say no one really cracked it this year. The knee-jerk response of turning to detection tools to weed out those leaning too heavily on technology faced a challenge in July when the UK’s Office of the Independent Adjudicator revealed it had upheld complaints from students who had been accused of cheating after their work was flagged by the software. The OIA told universities to be aware of the limitations of such tools, which have been accused of bias against students whose first language is not English. Experts said it demonstrated why there is a “clear need for universities to articulate what acceptable AI use looks like”.

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10. Has student-centred teaching gone too far?

The marketisation of higher education – combined with the lingering effects of the pandemic – means a variation of the old adage that the “customer is always right” applies in universities more now than ever before. Whereas once a student would be expected to accept whatever teaching they were served up, the focus is now firmly on bending to meet learner preferences. This long read in July asked whether this aim has gone too far, and what the effects of the switch have been. It prompted much debate in the comments section, with one contributor claiming student-centred teaching has been a thing since the 12th century and another saying teaching in universities has never been harder.

9. ‘Chaotic’ Democrats leave universities to fend for themselves

Events in the US have understandably captured the attention of THE readers throughout 2025 but this piece in particular seemed to strike a chord. As Trump’s attacks ramped up during the first months of his presidency, many were asking the same question: where are the Democrats? Commentators said a lack of opposition from a party in disarray after its election defeat handed the president carte blanche to follow through with his agenda, unlike during his first presidency in 2016 when he was subject to more checks and balances. Fast forward 11 months and the Democratic response to Trump still seems no clearer.

8. ‘Mountain of small things’ killing academia, warns Oxford scholar

Bureaucracy and administrative burdens have been getting academics hot under the collar for a long time but in an era of financial insecurity the gripes have become existential. In April, neuroscientist Masud Husain argued that scholars have so many trivial tasks to complete that there is no time for doing the real job of knowledge creation. “We’re supposed to have time to think, we’re supposed to be creative, we’re supposed to be the people who are coming up with new solutions…how can you do that if you spend all your day filling in forms?” he asks. 

7. Could Indian branch campuses bail out struggling Western universities?

A few years ago, it appeared that the branch campus boom was over after several high-profile failed expansions left universities bruised. But, as some countries have increasingly tightened rules on international enrolments, teaching students on their own turf is becoming more and more attractive. No more so than in India, where major universities have rushed to set up campuses in response to changing regulations. In many ways, India makes perfect sense as a international base, given its vast size and the level of demand for quality higher education among its large youth population. But there are sure to be pitfalls along the way and anyone seeing transnational education as a quick financial win might want to think again.

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6. What could the rise of the AfD mean for German universities?

Another theme of 2025 has been the rise of right-wing populist parties with close links to Trump. Like in the US, the Alternative for Germany party fought February’s election on promises to smash woke ideology on campuses. It proved an appealing pitch to large numbers of voters, even in a country known for its political stability and aversion to the far right. The AfD doubled its vote share in the poll and became the second largest party in the Bundestag, cementing its influence over German life. It showed that even if these types of parties are kept out of government, their policies and priorities are set to dominate politics for much of the rest of the decade.

5. Five UK universities tell staff they can’t afford pay rises

Many experts began 2025 predicting that it could be the year when the perilous finances of the UK sector finally toppled a major institution. This did not happen, unless you count the University of Dundee – which had to be bailed out by the Scottish government – but austerity continued to bite. Staff bore the brunt of this, with tens of thousands of jobs lost this year alone. Those who remain face more difficult conditions: higher class sizes, less time for research and, as this article showed, frozen pay despite a nationally agreed wage uplift. Signs are that the constant cost-cutting has helped shore up institutions and the risk of bankruptcy has subsided slightly, but 2026 is unlikely to bring an end to the hardship. 

4. More universities put on ‘action plans’ as ����Vlog Office gets tough

A sign of the ever-tougher environment in which international education is operating, several universities have been under stricter scrutiny from the UK ����Vlog Office this year. Although details of these “action plans” remain murky, losing sponsorship rights would have very serious consequences for an institution. May’s immigration White Paper brought news of plans to further toughen student visa rules, leaving universities pulling out of any recruitment that could be deemed more risky.

3. I’m tired of the academic road to nowhere – but it’s too late to exit

Given the fairly relentless drumbeat of negative news affecting universities this year, it is perhaps unsurprising that many scholars are planning their exit. Even though academia is a career that still brings unique benefits, most would agree it has become harder in recent years. In this article from May, one mid-career scientist gave voice to the frustrations many feel, writing that they were stuck in a situation where they were too experienced for entry level positions but not experienced enough for senior roles. Friends in other sectors have stable jobs, pensions and higher salaries, they write, but thoughts of settling down as an academic are impossible when precarity only allows you to look one or two years ahead.

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2. ‘Easy in, easy out’: Chinese students say UK ‘like assembly line’

The UK’s uneasy relationship with Chinese students has been a constant theme of recent years. But the views of the students themselves are rarely heard in this debate. This piece from August – based on a study published in the journal ����Vlog – attempted to rectify this, with students telling researchers that the UK’s market-driven postgraduate education makes them feel like “tinned tomatoes” on an assembly line. Authors urged universities to counteract the concerns by putting more money into setting up smaller classes, training teachers for working with multicultural and multilingual cohorts, and support services.

1. Don’t come to Sweden, international PhD students warn others

Web traffic moves in mysterious ways and quite why this appeal for doctorate students not to consider Sweden because of its strict migration policies garnered so much attention is something of a mystery. The warning came from students interviewed as part of a study conducted by the Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researchers. They described major hurdles to building a research career, including a lack of employment opportunities, restrictions on travel while applying for residency and the risk of being flagged a “security risk”. None of these issues are unique to Sweden, of course, and students arguably face a tougher time elsewhere. But such stories serve as a reminder that the globalised ideal of science and research often comes up against a harsher, national reality. 

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