Discover and share good practice for smarter working universities

New Hefce-funded project models costs and benefits of sharing services

The shared services delivery partner of Falmouth University and the University of Exeter is starting work on an exciting new project to measure, analyse and model the costs and benefits of collaboration between UK higher education institutions. Project manager Simon Perks tells us more.
Bottles in a lab

Raising the return – how do we do it?

In the final blogpost in our series on asset sharing, Sarah Jackson and Luke Georghiou say that despite the progress in this area, more work must be done to deliver full benefits.
Megan Dunn NUS vice president

Value me not my money: why students are key to good decision making

The notion of the student as a consumer is one that is gaining popularity. But NUS vice president (higher education) Megan Dunn says universities need to start seeing students as full members of their community who should play an active role in it, rather than customers, easily impressed by shiny new buildings.

Delivering better value through open data

Both public sector buyers and suppliers can experience long-term benefits from making their procurement data more open, Spendnetwork’s Ian Makgill suggests.
Amy Norton

Measuring up the higher education workforce

Analysis of higher education staff data provides insights into how university workforces are evolving to ensure student achievement and satisfaction, as well as research and teaching excellence, says Amy Norton of Hefce.
Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester

Carbon reduction and energy efficiency in the HE estate

Growing awareness of the need for energy efficiency is prompting households to look for ways to reduce consumption and universities are no different. Sue Holmes describes what higher education institutions are doing to work towards carbon reduction and energy efficiency.
Efficiency effectiveness and value for money report image

Watch the ‘Efficiency, effectiveness and value for money’ report launch

On Thursday 26 February, the 2nd report into Efficiency Effectiveness and Value for Money was launched at Universities UK. You can watch a video of Professor Sir Ian Diamond, who led the efficiency review, launching the report.
Dolly the Sheep

Celebrating success

Universities are this nation’s success story and their enduring value is something to be celebrated, says Universities UK president Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, reflecting on how the sector nurtures learning and invention while pursuing value for money.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Efficiency conference special – a new agenda for higher education

On the eve of the fourth annual efficiency conference, we are offering a refresher in the form of Professor Sir Ian Diamond's post introducing February's report on Efficiency, Effectiveness and value for money in higher education.

N8 highlights the impact of asset sharing across UK universities

The report, which reveals asset sharing's role in delivering innovation, increased productivity, and maximum value for public investment, helped to shape Thursday's Efficiency, Effectiveness and Value for Money report by Universities UK.