Efficiency review 2015

The higher education sector has to embrace the efficiency agenda more vigorously now than it ever has before, says Gerry Webber, secretary at Edinburgh Napier University. By doing this they can convince politicians, civil servants and the media that universities are not just successful organisations, but economically savvy and financially responsible too, he writes on the AHUA blog

New research shows improvements in procurement across England's higher education sector over the last five years have resulted in a rise in savings and efficiencies of more than 50%. The findings come in the latest survey of Efficiency Measurement Model (EMM) data carried out by North Western Universities Purchasing Consortium (NWUPC) on behalf of Procurement England Ltd (PEL), a company that brings together the four English purchasing consortia.

Much has been achieved in the drive to make universities more efficient and effective, says Sir Ian Diamond in an article for ModernGov. However, he adds that there is no room for complacency and more needs to be done to maintain UK Higher Education's standing (registration needed).

An affordable cloud-based infrastructure has been launched by Jisc and the University of Leicester to manage a growing volume of data that is threatening to overwhelm researchers. The Biomedical Research Infrastructure Software Service (BRISSKit) platform seeks to make data sharing and collaboration easier, saving time and reducing infrastructure costs.

The sector is supporting student engagement and enhancing students’ learning experiences in a number of ways. Hefce's Ellie Clewlow describes some of the latest innovations.

The reaction on social media to University UK’s report into efficiency in Higher Education, compiled following a review led by Professor Sir Ian Diamond.