Formation Continue du Supérieur

By Chris Millward. Last week the Institute for Public Policy Research published proposals to establish a subsidised student loan system for postgraduate study. This is a welcome addition to the debate about postgraduate funding. More...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...