David Williams, Governance Web Editor, Advance HE, reflects on the day through his conference notes:

Tim Savage works as an Academic Development Planning manager at the University for the Creative Arts and is also an HEA Senior Fellow. Here he talks his experience of managing a high-performing technical team delivering practice-based arts teaching and the value of Fellowships....read more

Over the years I’ve worked as a GP in some of South London’s most challenging areas, on my patch in the last few months there have been three tragedies...read more

The Athena SWAN Bronze Award has been presented to 15 Australian institutions, recognising their initiatives to improve gender equity and diversity. The institutions awarded are the first group of...read more

18 academics have been recognised as HEA Fellows during Curtin University’s annual ‘Festival of Learning’ held across its campuses in Western Australia, Malaysia, Dubai...read more

Achieving recognition as an HEA Principal Fellow was a deeply satisfying and quite profound moment in my career. In this blog I share a few reflections.....read more

Advance HE is delighted to announce that Dr Maree O’Keefe, Associate Dean, Associate Dean Learning Quality and Innovation, at the University of Adelaide, Australia, is its 1,000th HEA Principal Fellow.....read more

Advance HE congratulates the winners of the two categories it has sponsored in THE Awards 2018. The categories are: ‘Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development’ and ‘Most Innovative Teacher of the Year’. ....read more

Advance HE has launched a programme of engagement to explore how Subject-Led Networks should be shaped, beginning with an event at Cardiff University today....read more

Advance HE’s board vacancy portal and Board Diversification projects have been listed as welcome developments contributing to the increase in the percentage of women in....read more

Advance HE welcomes the report on the UUK report on Degree Classification: transparent, consistent and fair academic standards and the consultation launched today by the Quality Assurance Agency on behalf of the UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment....read more

Advance HE’s Chief Executive Alison Johns presented at the ECC Annual Conference in London on the issue of gender pay. The ECC conference theme was...read more

After completing my PhD in 2006 from Lancaster University, I took up a full time lectureship post in the Accounting and Finance department. Due to a change in personal circumstances, and a strong interest in enhancing my pedagogical practice, I moved to a ‘Teaching Fellow’ contract.....read more

My name is Cathy Bovill and I’m a Senior Lecturer in Student Engagement in the Institute for Academic Development at the University of Edinburgh. In September I was awarded HEA Principal Fellowship....read more

The rise in ill mental health and its impact on academic performance is a pressing issue requiring innovative and effective solutions. Training psychology students in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) may be...read more

This is the fourth consecutive year Advance HE has published its UKES (UK Engagement Survey). The results for 2018 show that student engagement levels continue to increase with...read more

Dr Kay Hack (Principal Adviser for Learning and Teaching with Advance HE), reflects on the evolution of discipline communities ahead of this month’s combined #LTHEChat and #AdvanceHE_Chat Tweetchat...read more

Advance HE has published the UK Engagement Survey (UKES), revealing positive trends in student engagement. For the first time ‘commuter’ students have been analysed in detail in the survey, highlighting...read more

Academics at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) reflect on their journey to being awarded HEA Fellowship. Professor Pamela Rowntree gives insight into ...read more

Last week was ‘Interfaith Week’ across the UK: an opportunity for different groups and communities (of all faiths and none) to come together through a range of activities to understand each other’s’ traditions, cultures, practices and histories...read more

Advance HE recently published the 2018 version of its Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES). Over 85,000 students from more than 100 UK higher education institutions participated in this annual survey, sharing...read more

Dr Liz Austen and Stella Jones-Devitt reflect on how comfortable organisations are in having difficult conversations and how they uncovered a possible theoretical model for positive cultural and behavioural change...read more

With the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) and the post-18 education review on the horizon, Kim Ansell explains why it’s important for higher education institutions to create, demonstrate and communicate value...read more

The effects of academic boredom can be problematic, affecting student engagement and achievement in sometimes different and unanticipated ways.  But what do we know about academic boredom’s...read more

The University of Derby has signed a memorandum of understanding with Advance HE, making it the first higher education institution in the country to commit to embedding the agency’s best practice framework into all its programmes.....read more

Advance HE is pleased to announce that the Spring 2019 cohort of Leading Transformation in Learning and Teaching (LTLT), will work with a team from the University of Birmingham....read more

This post introduces a research methods resource pack, developed by Dr Helen Johnson (Senior Psychology Lecturer at the University of Brighton) and the Collaborative Poetics Network. The pack supports qualitative, arts-based and participatory research, and is available online for free....read more

In 2017, following an academic restructure, SOAS University of London (SOAS) sought to develop and embed a coherent, reflexive and robust approach to inclusive assessment across the institution...read more

Dr Lisa Brodie, Head of Department, engineering design and mathematics at the University of the West of England recently took part in the Leading Departments programme. In this interview, she explains...read more

A new Action Plan by the Gender Equality Taskforce, on behalf of the Republic of Ireland’s Department of Education and Skills (DES), recommends more widespread and deeper engagement by higher education institutions (HEIs) with the Athena SWAN Charter, ....read more

I know who I am, but who am I really?”  This is a direct quote from a participant on an Advance HE senior leadership programme.  Now, our programmes are not designed to inspire an identity crisis. ....read more

Being an academic has been historically associated with being ‘care-free’, in the sense of having no or very little caring responsibilities. Yet, these days, students and academics are increasingly....read more

Fifty-four new National Teaching Fellows and 15 winners of the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) were recognised at an awards ceremony held in Edinburgh last night. For the....read more

Advance HE is pleased to launch two new frameworks to support Higher Education Providers (HEPs) during the recruitment of board vacancies. These frameworks provide practical step-by-step advice on....read more

Advance HE is proud to support the Technician Commitment, a sector-wide initiative led by the Science Council, supported by the Gatsby Foundation to help address key challenges facing technical staff working in higher education and research...read more

As we get close to achieving one thousand Principal Fellows, it is worth reflecting on the benefits of the process of gaining PFHEA.  Not only is it a recognition of an individual’s commitment to strategic leadership of learning and teaching but the reflective process is also beneficial....read more

Advance HE’s annual Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) attracted a record response rate in 2018, with 85,880 students from over 100 UK higher education institutions participating in the survey....read more

Universities once existed for the elite and higher education was considered a viable option only for a select few.  The same cannot be said today and HE is on a journey to ensure that it is accessible for every...read more

Advance HE has published two reports today about equality reporting on tertiary education in Scotland. The reports focus on how colleges and HEIs have met the specific reporting duties required of them by the Equality Act 2010...read more

Following the latest round of Athena SWAN award submissions, Advance HE is pleased to announce a further three institutions have gained a silver award, with five new institutional recipients for bronze award status...read more

Dr Ruth Pilkington (Professorial Fellow, Liverpool Hope) reflects on dialogue when assessing practice and recognising learning. She draws on recent Advance HE reports on accredited schemes...read more

Advance HE is making funding available for the Small Development Projects of up to £4,000, and for smaller case studies up to £500, which focus on the mental health and wellbeing of students...read more

There is a worldwide interest in Teaching Excellence, which is reflected in the growth of HEA Fellowships, with more than 108k globally. The debate continues about reward and recognition of teaching and parity of esteem...read more

Advance HE celebrated new Fellowship Forums in China, at Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu on 15 October and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai on 16 October...read more

Every one-to-one management discussion you have is either a seized opportunity or a lost opportunity. These discussions in organisations are crucial. They are where information is shared, agendas are formed...read more

Stuart Norton, Senior Adviser in Learning & Teaching at Advance HE talks about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) relates directly to creativity, enterprise and employability in Higher Education....read more

Julie Kelly, the Head of the Student Centre at the University of Hertfordshire enlightens you to the benefits of networking, and shares her expertise developed from time served in both the private and public sector...read more

Advance HE recently published the 2018 version of its Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES). Formerly published every two years, this is the first time the report has been published on an annual basis...read more

I took part in the Aurora programme during 2017/18 and it was one of the best investments and experiences I had in respect to my personal and professional development. ....read more

Applying for a Principal Fellowship is daunting, especially when you’re far away working in a slightly unconventional context. Meegan Hall, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Mātauranga Māori) at Victoria University of Wellington, shares her ‘detailed’ experience of assembling a successful portfolio.......read more

Advance HE has published the results of the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2018 today......read more

On World Mental Health Day, Advance HE associate and masterclass leader Byron Lee puts the case for compassion as a tool for change, ahead of our Executive Masterclass exploring mindful leadership.....read more

'Off on a jolly’ was a comment that I had a lot as I protected the space in my diary for the trip to Toronto over the Summer – I defended it with ‘all in the name of work’...read more

The Steering Group met this week, and recognising that an impact study of Athena SWAN is being conducted by Advance HE and funded by external partners, the plans for the...read more

One of the most effective techniques we use in our Leading Departments programme is to provide leaders with a simulated environment, challenging participants to confront complex...read more

In your work, in your role, in your organisation, do you feel a part of things or do you feel apart from them? Is there an attachment, an investment, a sense of ownership and belonging...read more

This blog describes the implementation of 'Stand Up and Be Heard' (SUBH) workshops for student fear of public speaking, including assessed presentations that negatively impact on the student experience...read more

All students in the UK deserve to feel safe on or off campus, which is why we are working with the Office for Students (OfS) to support the 119 Catalyst funded student safeguarding projects aimed at tackling sexual misconduct, hate crime and online harassment in higher education (HE).....read more

A tsunami of new technologies is set to transform the workplace, rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, 3D printing...read more

Advance HE has issued a comprehensive new guide: “Religion and Belief: supporting inclusion of staff and students in higher education ....read more

Aaron Porter,  Associate Director (Governance) at Advance HE talks about the shift of power between management and governance within higher education....read more

Advance HE comments on University and College Union’s (UCU) report Investigating higher education institutions and their views on the Race Equality Charter published today....read more

Missed the Virtual Reading Group in August?  Take a look at “Are there distinctive methodologies for pedagogic research in higher education? “ by Stierer and Anthoniou....read more

In his introduction to Advance HE’s recent conference to launch its new report “Let’s talk value: How universities create value for students staff and society....read more

Natalie Edwards, Associate Professor of French at the University of Adelaide, explains the reasons for applying for HEA Senior Fellowship, the process of applying and the main components of her application....read more

Amy is an Enterprise Education Officer and Researcher in the award winning Centre for Entrepreneurship at Liverpool John Moores University. Her role is threefold, and involves working with academics to create enterprising opportunities for students, working with extracurricular students interested in starting a business, and managing research projects around enterprise education....read more

Ben Brabon, Advance HE’s Academic Lead on Arts, Humanties and Social Sciences, has recently returned from China where he was delivering the first of the three modules of Advance HE’s Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (CLTHE) at Heilongjiang International University (HIU) in Harbin, China...read more

A new report about integrated thinking and reporting published today by Advance HE sets out how higher education institutions can develop significantly more effective ways to...read more

Flying Start is the winner of the Guardian HE Award for Curriculum and Course Design, 2018, due to its success in raising students' sense of belonging, confidence and engagement at the University of Huddersfield...read more

Advance HE publishes its eleventh annual statistical report today. The report offers insights into the age, disability, ethnicity and gender of staff and students....read more

Today, Advance HE publishes the seventh national student equality data report for colleges in Scotland...read more

Advance HE has been working on a national level teaching improvement project for the Office of the Higher Education Commission and ThaiPOD Network in Thailand.....read more

Jyoti Banerjee, partner at Fronesys and strategic advisor to the IIRC, highlights that by adopting the principles of integrated thinking and reporting, universities can move away from....read more

The Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) is a worldwide organisation with members in 90 countries on five continents. Its aim is to promote international excellence in education....read more

Fifty four new National Teaching Fellows are announced by Advance HE today, alongside the fifteen winning teams in the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence...read more

Maria Mawson has worked in the Library at the University of Sheffield since 2000, and is the Faculty Librarian for Social Sciences. She is a Fellow of CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) and an HEA Senior Fellowr....read more

For nearly three decades, I have had an annual ‘appointment’ with NET – the international networking conference for healthcare educators. Every year I meet ‘old’ friends....read more

Advance HE and the CUC (Committee of University Chairs), in collaboration with AHUA (Association of Heads of University Administration) and the 30% Club, have launched a new ‘board vacancies’ portal...read more

As part of Advance HE’s initiative on Integrated Thinking and Reporting, Janet Haddock-Fraser considers the notion of integrated leadership as a means of mobilising institutional action....read more

“There can be no finer mission or purpose for a university than to transform the life of a student. That is a key purpose for why we exist and I think this teaching excellence award is a reflection of that.”....read more

The National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan has become an Advance HE Access Partner, and is now our 50th international partner....read more

Advance HE’s third Research Insight presents findings from a review of 61 successful UK Silver and Gold Athena SWAN and Juno Champion (gender equality in physics) applications from the November 2016 and April 2017 rounds...read more

Advance HE chief executive, Alison Johns, has confirmed all the appointments to her top team, the chief executive’s group (CEG).  The appointments are as follows:...read more

Understanding, measuring and enhancing the student experience, and most crucially the depth of student engagement is, without any doubt, high on the agenda of every university in the UK. Why engagement, and not simply experience?...read more

McMaster University is the winner of Advance HE’s Global Teaching Excellence Award (GTEA) 2018...read more

Cardiff Metropolitan University has bestowed an Honorary Fellowship on Alison Johns, chief executive of Advance HE, in recognition her outstanding commitment and....read more

Ten years ago, the article that introduced the CareerEDGE model of graduate employability was published.  At that time, Emotional Intelligence (EI) within an employability...read more

Robin Ryde will join the next programme cohort – its 44th - in spring 2019, replacing Rosemary Stamp who is standing down.  He will be working with TMP faculty members and Advance HE associates, Louisa Hardman and Vijaya Nath....read more

Academics from Bahrain Polytechnic shared their approach and experience in rolling out their Employability Framework as supported by their model of Problem- and Project...read more

Col Swinyard achieved Principal Fellowship status through a trial HEA Fellowship cohort delivered by Advance HE within the UK Defence Academy, as recognition of her...read more

The Annual Debate 2018 was held on the evening of the second day of the Teaching and Learning Conference, (4 July), following a three course meal at the Conference Centre Hotel at Aston University. The debate used an adapted....read more

Day 3 of Advance HE’s Teaching and Learning Conference at Aston University opened with a keynote speech by Shai Reshef, President of the University of the People (UoP), the world’s first non-profit, tuition-free....read more

Day Two of the Advance HE Teaching and Learning Conference 2018 is in full swing, with our chief executive, Alison Johns, introducing our second keynote speaker, John Gill, editor of Times Higher Education (THE) to the stage....read more

The Advance HE Teaching and Learning Conference 2018 is underway. This morning Advance HE’s chief executive, Alison Johns, welcomed the first group of the 600 plus delegates who are attending the conference over....read more

The Aga Khan University (AKU) held a celebration event on Saturday 30 June in recognition of the accreditation of their continuous professional development scheme, reaching staff across three continents....read more

The first meeting of the steering group tasked with a comprehensive review of Advance HE’s Athena SWAN Charter has taken place.....read more

I had always viewed Higher Education from the outside. Leaving school my aim was always to be involved with music, either as a musician or as a technician....read more

​​​​​​​We could be living in a world where education is not a privilege for the few, but a right for all. A more educated world would mean a more economically...read more

​​​​​​​I am six months into my vice-chancellor role at Bath Spa University. No leader has much of a honeymoon period these days - certainly not at a UK university given the current the current tough...read more

​​​​​​​Learning and teaching has been the focus of my academic practice since beginning my PhD in 2009. Working towards my Associate Fellowship of the HEA in 2010, I reflected on...read more

​​​​​​​The winners of the 2018 THE Leadership and Management Awards held in association with Advance HE, were announced on Thursday 21 June 2018 at a celebration event at the Grosvenor House Hotel London.  ....read more

Advance HE Policy Officer (Scotland) Kay Steven takes a look at Scotland’s approach to improving gender equality in engineering and how to avoid taking a deficit-model approach.....read more

When the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Plymouth achieved its Silver award (as Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry) in April 2017, we were thrilled - as any department or institution naturally would be....read more

It’s an incredibly exciting time, and getting PFHEA status as I move into this next stage of my career is really rewarding....read more

Our Gold Athena SWAN award gathered together everything the John Innes Centre was doing to address gender equality, and was achieved, not by doing more, but by capturing what we already do....read more

The idea of the ‘global graduate’ has been around for some time.  It is seized upon by universities, employers, careers advisory services and by organisations with an interest in promoting international collaborations, languages and exchange opportunities....read more

Technicians are a body of staff often referred to as an ‘invisible workforce’. They are essential to research and teaching and yet represent a relatively understudied occupational group in higher education...read more

In early June, I set off for Slovenia with a degree of trepidation. I may be married to an academic but I most certainly am not one myself.  So you can understand why I felt somewhat nervous on my flight to Slovenia...read more

2018 Student Academic Experience Survey highlights students’ belief that value for money in higher education is improving. In a marked reversal of a five-year downward trend, students...read more

Attending (and presenting!) at a conference where the audience consists mainly of established scholars in the subject area – in this case, student evaluations – can be quite intimidating for...read more

Advance HE CEO, Alison Johns, welcomed the publication of TEF 3 Awards today, “These awards point to the excellent quality of teaching across the higher education...read more.

We’ve all been in a meeting where we have heard the latest sector buzzword or strategic priority thrown around as a reason for pursuing a particular course of action or policy direction. Sometimes the...read more

Going Global is the British Council’s annual conference for leaders of international education. Advance HE participated in this year’s conference...read more

In April 2017 the government introduced new legislation which made it a legal requirement for every business and organisation employing over 250 members of staff to record and submit a series of...read more

Last month Advance HE joined up with University of the West of Scotland to hold Scotland's second symposium, this time with a focus on retention and enhancing the student experience.  Colleagues came together...read more

Australia’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and Advance HE, whose purpose is to advance the professional practice...read more

On 9 May, I ventured to Leeds to present at the Surveys 2018 conference, organised by Advance HE (formed from the recent merger of the Higher Education Academy, the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and the Equality Challenge Unit)...read more

Advance HE is delighted to announce the University of Oxford as its newest Race Equality Charter bronze award holder. De Montfort University was also successful in renewing...read more

This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week focuses on stress, a key factor in mental health problems. We know that big life changes can cause stress, and starting university would certainly...read more

Advance HE will undertake a major review of the Athena SWAN Charter, ensuring that it is fit for current and future needs of institutions, individuals and the sector as a whole. The Charter is...read more

Advance HE is delighted to announce the finalists for the Global Teaching Excellence Award (GTEA) 2018. Introduced last year in association with Times Higher Education, the award recognises...read more

The chief executive of Advance HE, Alison Johns, will be joining other leaders working in international higher education at this year’s Going Global conference in Malaysia...read more

As part of the subject-level TEF, the DfE is consulting on whether to introduce a new measure of teaching intensity. One of the six options presented for consideration...read more

As Advance HE takes its first steps as a new organisation, Chief executive Alison Johns reflects on the first days and her plans for the new HE sector agency during the rest of 2018...read more

Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. Advance HE is a new agency formed in 2018 from the merger of Equality Challenge Unit, the Higher Education Academy and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education...read more.

Advance HE, the new sector agency to be formed from the merger of the Equality Challenge Unit, Higher Education Academy and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, is announced today – Wednesday 21 March after the three agencies signed the documentation to effect the merger...read more.