Log in
Student as Producer connects academic teaching, undergraduate research and student engagement at the level of curriculum design and practice within HE institutions, which has in turn affected national HE teaching agencies approach to developing practice. The impact includes:
A twelve-year programme of research (2001-12) led by Professor Gareth Parry on higher education in further education colleges has produced impacts on policy development, institutional strategy and professional practice in England. The beneficiaries are the central authorities for higher and further education, the colleges of further education and their university partners, college managers and tutors, and thereby students and employers. The types of impact are changes to national funding and reporting arrangements; enhancements to policy and organisational learning; and contributions to institutional capacity-building. The vehicles for achieving impact are collaborations with policy, professional and practitioner communities through expert programmes, consultancies, databases, directories and guides to good practice. The reach of the impact is national, cross-sector and institutional, with a wider influence on debates across the UK and international developments including in Australia.
The first of the two studies described here helped to persuade the coalition government that sufficient loans and grants needed to be available from autumn 2012 to ensure that higher tuition fees did not deter students from disadvantaged backgrounds from pursuing a university degree. The second study influenced the national debate on widening participation in higher education and encouraged policy-makers to recognise the importance of providing school students with improved information, advice and guidance on how to reach university. It triggered the launch of a successful website that has enabled teenagers to make more informed choices about HE.
Research by the University of Edinburgh (1997 to 2006, but part of a continuing programme of work) on socio-economic inequalities in education and the impact of educational reform has had an impact on public policy debates, mainly in Scotland. The significance of the impact is seen in the raised profile of socio-economic inequalities in policy agendas and the extent to which it has informed the design of policy responses and influenced policy debates. It has played an important role in holding the public policy process to account, by providing the main independent evidence base on the actual and potential contribution of policy. Its reach has extended to include policy-makers and participants in public debates about education and, indirectly, pupils and students.
Jim Gallacher and Robert Ingram's research on the role of short cycle higher education (SCHE) has now had a significant impact on the development of policy in Scotland, within the European Union and beyond. This has led to initiatives in Scotland to enhance the role of Higher National Certificates and Diplomas (HNC/Ds), and strengthen articulation pathways between colleges and universities. This work has also been recognised at an international level in shaping policy within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and CEDEFOP (European Centre for Development of Vocational Training) on the 'permeability' between vocational and academic qualifications.
`Competition generally drives up standards and drives down prices.' This is the principle upon which first the Browne Review and then the HE White Paper proposed the `radical reform' of higher education in England in October 2010 and June 2011. The theoretical reasoning underlying this maxim is familiar. But is its application to higher education supported by empirical evidence - that is, by historical experience? Howard Hotson's research on Central European universities in the seventeenth century, a time of marketisation of university qualifications and expansion, has provided a model with which to understand current policy developments in higher education. He has used insights arising from this research to shift the terms of the national debate on whether the marketisation of British universities will drive standards up or down.
Social Inclusion in Education has been the focus of research for a number of years at the Institute for Education Policy Research (IEPR). This case study draws on research projects on supporting non-traditional learners in education, and offering advice for informed decision-making in education. This has involved externally funded research projects, and outputs in refereed academic journals which have been much cited by policy-makers as well as the academic and practitioner community. The main impact of our research has been on education policy-makers, and those individuals whose lives have been affected by the work of policy-makers.
Professor Claire Callender's timely research has informed the policy debate about financial support for part-time undergraduates in England. Her research significantly raised awareness and understanding within government, and more widely, about the case for reform by highlighting the deleterious effects of the pre-2012/13 funding system on the supply of, and demand for, part-time study. It influenced major changes in student funding arrangements for part-time undergraduates introduced in 2012/13, and modified their on-going development. Policymakers have benefitted from her research, alongside higher education (HE) institutions, HE stakeholders and practitioners, and part-time students eligible for the new loans.
Prior to 2004 there was no accurate way of determining the value of education to the UK economy. Moreover, education had not previously been considered as part of the economy in the same way as, for example, manufacturing. At this time the British Council commissioned Geraint Johnes to produce a methodology for evaluating the global value of all education exports. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills used this on 2008-2010 data to calculate its worth at £14.1bn to the UK. BIS have re-used this methodology in subsequent years and estimated that by 2025 the UK value will increase to £26.6bn. The research has also been used in the ongoing debate on immigration and UK Border Agency policy for example the revoking of visas by London Metropolitan University in August 2012, which was widely publicised by national and international media. It has also been frequently cited in government papers and in Parliament.