By Chris Millward. I spoke at the HEFCE Annual Meeting yesterday about the ways in which universities and colleges are working to widen participation and support student success, and particularly the need to demonstrate the impact of this work. More...
REF 2014 impact submissions: part of a cultural shift?
By Catriona Manville and Jonathan Grant. In the run-up to November 2013, universities across the UK prepared submissions for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. For the first time, this included an assessment of the impact, or wider societal benefits, resulting from research. This mechanism for examining impacts from previous UK-led research complements the Research Councils UK’s requirements for researchers to describe how they will facilitate impact from future research. More...
REF 2014 shows that research impact can be assessed
By Catriona Manville. For the first time anywhere, the UK has allocated funding to universities according to an assessment of research impact. RAND Europe’s evaluation of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 process reveals that it worked, allowing different types of impacts drawn from a wide range of disciplines to be compared and scored. More...
The multi-impactful nature of UK universities research
By Jonathan Grant and Saba Hinrichs. The 6,679 non-redacted case studies submitted to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) showcased how research undertaken in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) over the past 20 years has benefited society beyond academia – whether in the UK or globally. This was the first time HEIs were required to submit impact case studies, and researchers inevitably have put their best foot forward, resulting in an inspiring read. More...
How does the sector support student engagement and enhance students’ learning experiences?
By Ellie Clewlow. Those were the questions under discussion at the recent Modern Government event where I contributed on behalf of HEFCE, alongside a range of learning and teaching leaders and practitioners. More...
Changing the Learning Landscape through technology-enhanced learning
By Ellie Clewlow. Embedding technology-enhanced learning can also present challenges, which we set out to understand and to support the sector to address through the HEFCE-funded ‘Changing the Learning Landscape’ programme, led by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. Both the theme and the programme clearly resonated, as was shown by the voluntary engagement with the programme from nearly 150 providers. More...
Developing the higher level vocational education system and the next steps for Higher Apprenticeships
This conference follows the Government's call for engagement in the creation of elite National Colleges, intended to help the development of high level technical skills in those industries or sectors where there is an identified skills gap. More...
Changing the learning landscape
Students, practitioners and university leaders from across 145 UK universities and colleges have taken part in a ground-breaking HEFCE-funded programme, led by the Leadership Foundation, to advance technology-enhanced student learning.
A summary report has been published, and a range of online resources to share innovative practice and support ongoing development has been launched. More...
Future financial challenges for higher education
A review of university and college finances published by HEFCE concludes that the higher education sector in England was in sound overall financial health in 2013-14.
However, there continues to be wide variation in the financial performance of individual institutions [Note 1]. Institutions are also increasingly relying on higher borrowing to pay for their capital programmes. More...
New Centre for Global Higher Education announced
HEFCE is co-funding with the Economic and Social Research Council the first research centre in this country dedicated to the investigation of higher education and its future.
The Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) is led by the UCL Institute of Education and partnered by Lancaster University and the University of Sheffield. More...