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The latest announcements, press releases and media coverage from University Alliance.

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  1. Changes to student maintenance loans: UA’s response

    On Thursday 25 January, the government announced that maintenance loan payments would rise by 2.5% from September 2024 for students in England. On Friday 26th, the Department for Education released its Equality Impact Assessment for HE student finance in 2024/25, which looked at the impact of the proposed changes. In our latest briefing, we highlight […]

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  2. Letter in the Financial Times: what’s miss­ing in the con­ver­sa­tion about uni­versit­ies

    In a letter to the Financial Times, University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson talks about what’s missing in the conversations about the current challenges facing the higher education sector. “Robert Shrims­ley’s piece on the crisis in higher edu­ca­tion (Opin­ion, Janu­ary 18) sum­mar­ises the fin­an­cial chal­lenges facing uni­versit­ies in Eng­land well. There’s something miss­ing however in the […]

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  3. Eight Alliance Universities awarded funding to expand degree apprenticeships

    The Office for Students has announced a £12 million investment in degree apprenticeships in England, with over £2m allocated to Alliance universities. Vanessa Wilson, CEO of University Alliance said in response to the announcement: “It’s great to see eight University Alliance members awarded funding to expand their degree apprenticeship offer. Alliance universities have long been […]

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    Vanessa Wilson
  4. University Alliance responds to UCAS end-of-cycle data release

    Responding to the release of the UCAS sector level end-of-cycle data today, University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson said: On the drop in acceptances for nursing courses: “Whilst it is heartening to see acceptances are up 2% for midwifery courses, it is worrying that acceptances for nursing courses are down 11% on 2022 levels. The future of […]

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    Vanessa Wilson
  5. University Alliance responds to announcement on legal migration restrictions

    In response to the Home Office’s announcement on legal migration restrictions, University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson said: “Targeting international students through threats to graduate work visas shows a failure to recognise both public opinion and the economic reality. Research by Public First has shown that only 9% of the general public think that international students […]

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    Vanessa Wilson
  6. University Alliance responds to the Autumn Statement

    University Alliance, who represent 16 of the UK’s leading professional and technical universities, has responded to the Chancellor’s autumn statement. University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson made the following comments: On investment in innovation and skills “The Chancellor is absolutely right to identify skills and innovation as two of the biggest levers for growth in the […]

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  7. University Alliance writes to Chancellor with cost-neutral recommendations to safeguard technical education   

    Ahead of the Autumn statement, University Alliance has warned the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt of ‘serious financial challenges’ that present a significant risk of ‘a two-tier university system emerging’.   Vanessa Wilson, CEO of University Alliance wrote to the Chancellor suggesting several low-cost or cost-neutral policies to ensure professional and technical universities can continue to excel in […]

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  8. Pandemic adaptations can improve inclusive assessment practices today: UA network releases report

    The University Alliance Teaching & Learning network have released their report: What works? Supporting student progression and attainment through sustainable inclusive assessment practices. Seven institutions from the network, led by Teesside University, carried out the research project to identify which inclusive assessment policies and practices implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic could be applied in a […]

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  9. ‘Let’s Get Technical’: University Alliance publishes five policy asks for the next Government

    University Alliance, an association of the UK’s leading professional and technical universities, has today (Friday 29 September) published ‘Let’s Get Technical: How to harness the power of professional and technical universities to deliver for the UK’. Launched to coincide with party conference season, ‘Let’s Get Technical’ proposes five long-term goals for the next UK government, […]

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  10. Professional and technical universities come top for student experience

    Responding to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) results which have been publicly released today (28 September 2023), University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson said: “As University Alliance we are immensely proud of the fantastic and innovative teaching at Alliance universities, which today’s published Teaching Excellence Framework results attest to. Currently, over a third (36%) of all […]

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