New HEIs disrupting norms but face big challenges – Report

A new generation of higher education institutions (HEIs) in England are “disrupting traditional norms” of what it means to provide and receive a university education, according to a new report.

The HEIs, set up in the last five to 10 years under the Higher Education and Research Act (HERA) 2017, offer pioneering courses and methods of delivery which more closely reflect workplace patterns, and so prepare students well for life beyond higher education.

The institutions can, in time, apply for their own degree-awarding powers, with the ultimate aim of achieving the title of “university”. However, the report said, they were experiencing challenges with branding and regulation.

To date, they include further education colleges, performing arts colleges and business- and management-focused providers, and others who want to innovate and widen participation.

The study, from the Edge Foundation, looked at how the institutions had evolved over time, how they differ from more traditional providers and how they are perceived by students and staff.

It continues from earlier research, New HEIs in England: A real chance to innovate?, published in 2023.

Encouraging innovation

The latest report, Becoming University: The Progress of England’s New HEIs, found that courses had adopted an interdisciplinary approach, emphasising breadth of study and developing values, skills and capabilities.

Courses tended to integrate humanities, social sciences and professional skills, though there were some concerns about the balance between this and the theoretical depths of knowledge acquired by students.

Learning was active and experiential, with lectures replaced by discussions, problem-solving and hands-on practical activities. Teaching had a strong link with industry-linked projects to support practical understanding.

The report said: “The importance of practical, real-world relevance across the curricula was emphasised no matter what courses are being taught.

“These institutions situate theoretical concepts alongside authentic application, rather than in isolation, to better develop both technical knowledge and professional skills.

“This is supported through collaboration with employers who help to ensure content addresses actual workplace needs.”

Students were assessed using portfolios, presentations, industry briefs and other creative outputs, rather than through examinations.

“Students value the variety and particularly see the lack of exams as a key selling point of the courses,” the report said.

“However, they sometimes struggle with adapting to new assessment formats and inconsistent feedback.”

Class numbers tended to be small, which enabled personalised learning, with strong staff-student relationships and opportunities for “safe discussion and collaboration, creating a psychological safety net and tailored support”.

Staff at the HEIs were encouraged to use innovative methods with real-world learning. Many had industry-based experiences which helped to support the professional readiness of students.

However, the study said there were “challenges around workload, staff turnover, training needs and the demands of a start-up culture that should be considered, particularly for staff well-being”.

Inspiration for traditional universities

Katherine Emms, one of the authors of the report, told University World News that the ability of the HEIs to collaborate and innovate could be emulated by more traditional universities.

“While some traditional universities do incorporate elements of this, many could certainly take inspiration from the approaches these new HEIs are pioneering and may look to strengthen their own provision in response,” Emms said.

“These institutions will not necessarily become more important than traditional universities but an increasingly influential part of a more diverse higher education sector, one with a strong focus on work-preparedness.

“Their importance may grow, not by replacing traditional universities, but by shaping expectations around what effective, future-focused higher education can look like.”

Brand awareness

Despite the attraction of industry-led learning and no exams, the new HEIs faced recruitment challenges, especially around brand awareness and trust, “since they do not have the long institutional histories or established reputations of other universities across the sector”, the report noted.

“These new HEIs show particular concerns for widening participation and have taken positive and proactive steps to recruit students who might otherwise be excluded from higher education, particularly through broader admission requirements and the targeting of ‘cold spots’ which have previously lacked HE provision,” the report stated.

Emms said they also raised issues around value for money. Although they charged roughly the same fees as traditional universities, courses were often two, rather than three, years long, which offered some cost savings to prospective students.

“The pioneering students who choose to study at these new institutions are undoubtedly taking a risk in those first few years when there is no established reputation, necessarily, of these HEIs, but the student experience they offer is often far more personal and hands-on,” she said.

“This can feel like better value for money; for example, being in a classroom with 30 students every day rather than sitting in a lecture hall with 300, where individual attention is inevitably limited. Students simply get a level of visibility and support that is much harder to achieve in larger, more traditional universities.”

Becoming a university

However, the report said, the HEIs were constrained by regulation with “major hurdles” along their journey to becoming universities, which had led to “slow and limited opportunities to innovate further”.

The report found: “New HEIs described the process of setting up and securing registration as extremely frustrating and at times restrictive, particularly in relation to their dealings with the Office for Students and other external bodies.

“Senior management recalled being prohibited from using basic sector terminology – such as ‘degree’, ‘course’, ‘module’ or even ‘university’– which made it difficult to communicate their offer or build credibility.

“These constraints often forced institutions to balance their founding vision with the need to comply with prescriptive regulatory requirements.”

Emms added that further monitoring of the HEIs and the impact on graduates would help to provide qualitative information about their effectiveness, as well as their long-term viability.

“These institutions face the same challenges that universities across the sector are facing – such as acute financial strain and regulatory burdens,” she said.

“But it could perhaps be argued that they are even more at risk, as they are not cushioned by their histories and any long-standing reputation.”