University Alliance’s new strategy: ‘2035: First for Students, First for Employers’ sets out our vision for professional and technical universities to drive high-level skills, employer partnerships and economic growth across the UK.
University Alliance (UA), the voice of the UK’s leading professional and technical universities, has today launched our new long-term strategy, Strategy 2035: First for Students, First for Employers.
The strategy sets out an ambitious vision for the 2030s to ensure higher education delivers the high-level skills, talent and innovation needed for the nation’s future prosperity.
The strategy outlines a vision for a world where everyone can access excellent professional and technical higher education and where employers can access the knowledge, skills and expertise they need to thrive. It places opportunity, economic growth and social mobility at the heart of University Alliance’s work over the next decade.
The strategy highlights four UA’s overarching objectives for the next decade:
- Ensuring UA member universities are thriving and able to maximise their impact for students, employers and communities.
- Creating a compelling and competitive University Alliance offer for students, employers and government.
- Enabling members to deliver the advanced skills and expertise employers need.
- Building a strong, sustainable organisation that leading professional and technical universities want to join and remain part of.
To achieve these ambitions, University Alliance will focus on five strategic pillars:
- Influencing with impact by shaping policy and regulation that supports professional and technical universities.
- Delivering for employers through stronger engagement with industry and key growth sectors.
- Brand value and awareness to strengthen recognition of the distinctive contribution of professional and technical universities.
- Sustaining and growing membership, by delivering consistently for existing members and appealing to universities aligned with UA’s mission.
- Operational effectiveness through collaboration, partnerships and organisational excellence.
The strategy also highlights University Alliance members’ distinctive contribution to the UK economy and society. Its members are leading providers of skills and innovation in the engineering, technology, creative and healthcare sectors, while delivering applied research that supports business growth and regional development.
Professor Roderick Watkins DL, Chair of University Alliance and Vice-Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, said:
“Professional and technical universities have never been more important to the future of the United Kingdom. As government, higher education and industry work to increase productivity, develop high-level skills, accelerate innovation and create opportunity in every region, University Alliance members will be at the forefront of delivery.
“Our ambition is clear: to make professional and technical universities first for students and first for employers. Through deeper collaboration with industry, stronger advocacy, greater public recognition and a relentless focus on outcomes, we will champion a model of higher education that creates opportunity, develops talent and delivers impact.”
“Our strategy sets out the future we want to help create. It reflects our confidence in the transformative power of professional and technical universities and our commitment to a higher education system that values diverse learners, diverse institutions and diverse routes to success. Together, we will continue to champion opportunity, innovation and prosperity for people, places and the nation.”
Vanessa Wilson, Chief Executive of University Alliance, said:
“University Alliance has always been driven by a clear purpose: to champion the UK’s leading professional and technical universities that deliver for students, employers, communities and the economy. As the UK faces significant challenges around growth, skills and productivity, our role will never be more important in the coming years.
“This strategy sets out not only the future we want to see, but how we will work together to achieve it. We will influence policy and regulation to create an environment in which our members can thrive. We will strengthen partnerships with employers and industry to ensure higher education continues to develop the talent, skills and innovation employers need. We will build greater recognition of the value of professional and technical universities amongst the public and policymakers, grow and support the collective strength of our membership, and maximise the impact of our organisation through collaboration and operational excellence.”
“Together, we will ensure our universities will be first for students, and first for employers, and central to the prosperity and success of the UK.”
As part of the launch, University Alliance is publishing a series of videos featuring vice-chancellors from member institutions discussing the strengths of professional and technical universities, the benefits of collaboration through University Alliance, and how higher education will evolve over the next decade.
