Higher education does not teach critical thinking by default

with whom is the author arguing? no one!

Anything that supports the integrity of HE, free of unconscious bias, 'muddled thinking' and ideology should be encouraged.

Ok but there is a rather strong assumption of scientism running through this article. Science is a rather good method in the tool kit but isn't synonymous with rationality. We need broader tool kits and a bit of faculty holism. And having students think critically about the scientific method itself is also very useful.

If graduates are struggling with critical thinking there is a problem. However is university the place to fix it? What about students who go onto to FE or do no HE? The place to look is the school system. The home environment might be an issue. A children we were expected to have read the daily newspaper and be ready to argue issues over dinner. School assessment from essays on literature through to mathematics problem solving was expected to present not just results but evidence of systematic analysis. University is the finishing plane. It cannot turn a piece of burnt driftwood into a polished object d'art.