In this issue review for 15-21 March 2018, the THE editorial team discusses a new study that predicts a massive increase in demand for higher education in England by 2030, and the funding headache this will create for the UK’s government, as well as the results of a survey on whether an academic sisterhood exists – or should exist – and whether it could redress male advantage. We also talk about how analysis of data underlying the latest ranking of most international universities shows how countries and institutions in Asia, Europe and North America are quite different in terms of the most open disciplines. 

And we hear about the challenges that South Africa’s new free tuition policy holds for the sector, according to the country’s former president Thabo Mbeki, now chancellor of the University of South Africa.

News editor Chris Havergal is joined by features editor Paul Jump, data editor Simon Baker and deputy news editor Ellie Bothwell.