…The Science and Technology Committee has published its conclusions from its inquiry into setting up UK Research & Innovation. The Higher Education and Research Bill will see the Government create ‘UK Research & Innovation’ (UKRI) — a new organisation of nine ‘councils’ comprising the seven research councils, Innovate UK and Research England. We submitted evidence to the Inquiry, which can be read here….
…ce for Fair Access (OFFA) has commented on our report, Supporting Thriving Communities: The role of universities in reducing inequality. OFFA’s Director of Fair Access to Higher Education Professor Les Ebdon said: “I’m glad to see this report celebrating the ways that fair access to university enriches society and the economy as well as transforming individuals’ lives. “University Alliance is absolutely right to highlight the importance of a whole…
…recommend: Quality Assessment (QA) and the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) should be integrated into a single system. TEF should not by itself be used to determine whether universities can charge undergraduates more for their tuition. The proposed link with tuition fees should be introduced for well-established universities passing a new risk-based QA threshold. Any future QA system should continue to separate the role of assuring quality from…
…ght staff with the right skills in the right place unless there is a joint effort to effect a change. Coordinated delivery Delivering an ambitious workforce plan in a financially challenging environment will require new creative ways of working – how can the existing workforce be reskilled, or services be reorganised? The renewed emphasis on prevention will necessitate new healthcare and non-healthcare roles. To deliver on the plan’s promise, work…
…are like a Celtic knot: inextricably intertwined. In an epiphanic moment in 2016, having completed my doctoral studies, I realised two significant issues about Film [Production] degree programmes that were being taught at many universities throughout the UK, including my own: firstly, the curriculum had barely changed in 30 years and, secondly, our students were effectively ‘on their own’ in terms of employment, especially when they graduated. As…
…Nursing Associate courses were in professional occupations 15 months after completing their course (Guardian University Guide 2023). We were the first higher education institution to become a member of the Florence Nightingale Foundation Academy. The Foundation focuses on improving health, clinical outcomes and patient experience, through building nursing and midwifery leadership capacity and capability. This aligns closely with our own ethos and…
…o attended the festival had their perceptions of marginalised and minority communities changed, increased the visibility of Romani community’s dance practices, and provided exhibition venues new ways to access history for public engagement purposes. The research has changed methods used by IT developers working with dance content, established new approaches to curation of dance content and safeguarding that feed into wider sector practices, and in…
…– for example due to caring responsibilities or disability (from 12.2% in REF 2008 to 29.2% in REF 2014). Women in horse racing The under-representation of women in senior roles in British horse racing became another target for the Centre’s research. Its findings led to a national steering group being set up by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) to promote gender and other diversities. The research also led to the appointment of a Head of Inc…
…of individuals or populations, the eDNA approach is a more accurate, cost-effective, and time-efficient method of surveying that causes less damage to vulnerable habitats and does not require expert staff to collect samples. The research team’s success lies in improving the way these methods can be used in freshwater environments, where eDNA is diluted and distributed by water movement and affected by environmental factors such as temperature and…
…he Office for Students should update the awards categories it uses in the TEF to reflect this new era of teaching excellence assessment. We recommend categories proposed by the Independent Review of TEF: Outstanding, Highly Commended, and Commended. These are clear categories that are widely used outside the higher education sector. But University Alliance also makes the following recommendations, that: OfS should create an additional bank of grad…
