Today is the final deadline for university applications via UCAS. If previous years are anything to go by, over half a million hopeful applicants will have gone through the process of filling in their forms, making choices, completing personal statements in the hope of going on to an educational experience that will transform their lives.

But to what extent are these hard-working young people being well-served by the system? In Policy Exchange’s report last June, Sins of Admission, we set out how university admissions are having a detrimental impact on schools and sixth form colleges – and pupils in the process of applying for higher education. The increasingly routine use of unconditional offers and contextual admissions threatens to undermine the quality of our universities and feeds the soft bigotry of low expectations in schools.

The UK should feel deservedly pleased with the results of this week’s PISA rankings. Since the last rankings three years ago, it has risen from 22nd to 14th in reading, from 15th to 14th in science and from 27th to 18th in maths. The last is a particular achievement, with the UK improving nine score points over the last three years, one of only a handful of countries to secure a statistically significant increase. The gender gap and rich-poor attainment gap in the UK is also narrower in both cases than the OECD average.

Universities should be places of open debate, where ideas can be debated freely. Recent events, however, have revealed a chilling effect, with high profile campaigns to sack academics and fewer than four out of ten Leave-supporting students feeling able to share their views in class. Our polling reveals that a solid core of 30% of students are consistently in favour of free speech: this report presents policy recommendations for universities, for government and for civil society to ensure academic freedom can thrive in our universities.

“It’s difficult to think of anyone other than Policy Exchange who has had such an impact on education in this country – apart from E.D. Hirsch,” said Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Education, in a vote of thanks after Professor Hirsch’s keynote speech, which argued for “a definite knowledge-based curriculum” for all children.

Policy Exchange is delighted to announce the appointment of a new Education and Skills team, which will continue our agenda-setting work in this key area of domestic policy.

Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP has publically backed the latest education report by Policy Exchange, setting out how standards can continue to be raised in state schools. Completing the Revolution set out how using textbooks produced by respected third-parties like the British Museum can improve the quality of teaching while reducing the time teachers have to spend preparing for lessons. The idea builds upon other school reforms pioneered by Policy Exchange, including free schools and the pupil premium.