“As the end of another busy year approaches, the time is right to take stock and reflect on the last 12 months. A lot has changed: this time last December, we had a different government, different tuition and maintenance loan levels and a slightly different set of challenges.
Whilst the challenges we face have evolved since then, our sector continues to deliver extraordinary impact. Whenever I visit a UA member, I am reminded of the lives our universities change, the industries and communities they underpin and the progress they drive.
At UA, we’ve worked hard over the last year to support our members to be the best they can be, and I am proud of the work the team has delivered.
It is therefore with great pleasure that I’d like to share 12 of my highlights from 2024!
- Advocating for a health education workforce
UA members are pivotal to the NHS workforce. We have long advocated for a ministerial health education taskforce to ensure that health and education policy work together as smoothly as possible to meet the NHS’s skills needs. In February this year, we joined other sector groups to write to the Secretaries of State for Health and Education, calling for a taskforce. This is something we will continue to push for until we get it. - The protection of the Graduate Visa
Like the rest of the sector, we were deeply alarmed by the proposals to remove the graduate visa route. We responded to the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the route and mobilised our members’ business and industry networks to highlight the risks of abolishing it. We were delighted to be able to contribute to the protection of the route. - UA Leaders
UA Leaders, our leadership development programme for senior staff at UA universities, continues to go from strength to strength. This year, thanks to our generous partners at Technology One, we were able to take this year’s cohort of leaders to Australia for a discovery visit. The timing of the trip worked out perfectly for the group to learn from Australian colleagues’ experiences with the Australian Universities Accord. - Let’s Get Technical: The First 100 Days
In advance of the general election this summer, we set out our priorities for the new government in Let’s Get Technical: The First 100 Days. The publication outlines a clear set of policies that we believe will enable UA universities to maximise their impact. We updated this in the Autumn and will continue to update our policy priorities as the context changes. - DTA Summer School
Every summer, the early-career researchers we support through the Doctoral Training Alliance come together for the DTA Summer School. It’s always a brilliant event and this year was no different. In collaboration with ARU’s StoryLab Research Institute, we offered a mini placement to Summer School attendees to explore the use of immersive technologies to support and disseminate research. - To What Degree? Understanding what UK employers look for in UK graduates
In August we released our study of graduate employers, delivered by CBI Economics. It clearly shows what employers do and don’t look for when recruiting graduates and exposes some misperceptions about employers’ preferred ‘type’ of graduates. - Alliance Awards
Our flagship Alliance Awards were hosted by the University of West London this year, where we welcomed almost 200 attendees from across our membership and the sector. With over 130 fantastic nominations for awards this year, the judges had their work cut out – but we were pleased to award 7 worthy winners on the night! To celebrate the achievements of all nominees, we published every single nomination we received this year in our Little Book of Big Impact. - Changing outcomes measures for schools
We at UA have long been opposed to the use of Russell Group entry rates as an accountability measure in schools’ destinations data given that excellence exists across the university sector. We were pleased that the message got through and the Department for Education dropped the Russell Group measure in October. - Degree apprenticeship funding success
More good news for UA in October when the Office for Students allocated over £3.3million to develop healthcare degree apprenticeships: the result of a successful joint bid led by Middlesex University and supported by University Alliance. Seven UA members were part of the consortium and we know that they will deliver an impactful project to boost healthcare apprenticeships. - UniMythsBusted campaign launched
Together with our partners UCAS and supporters UniTasterDays, The Sixth Form Colleges Association and the Career People, we launched the UniMythsBusted Campaign in November, with support from Skills Minister Jacqui Smith. The campaign aims to tackle some of the misperceptions that cause anxiety for young people considering university and will continue to run throughout 2025. - DTA legacy fund winners announced
The DTA legacy fund was launched this year and awards funding for three DTA3 alumni to complete a 1-to-2-month international placement. During their placements, the alumni will explore challenges facing UK society and identify potential solutions. You can see the successful awardees here. - Protecting level 7 apprenticeships
We know how important level 7 apprenticeships are in filling skills gaps for a range of sectors, so we are deeply concerned by government plans to defund them. In December we wrote to the Chancellor to outline our concerns, along with a coalition of over 600 other employers and apprentices, who provided a staggering 400+ testimonials which clearly illustrate just how important these qualifications are. This is an issue we will continue to work on in the new year.”
