Available to Advance HE Members only.
The principal aim of this network is to co-create spaces for leaders of college-based higher education across the UK to come together and share practices, devise solutions to meet their challenges and opportunities and build stronger links.
From the outset, there were recurring themes being explored by network members, which included:
- Developing a Higher Education (HE) ethos and creating an HE community within FE contexts.
- Collaboration opportunities for continuing professional development, research and scholarly activity, and sharing best practice.
- Marketing of the CBHE distinctiveness, graduate attributes, and currency of skills.
- Collective campaigns.
- Regulatory bodies and changes, and learning from other national bodies.
Read the latest blog
‘Bridging the divide’: The case for a tertiary approach to post-16 education
- Professor Mark O'Hara and Victoria Burroughs
New Opportunities for College-Based Higher Education – 2025-26 Member Benefits
In 2025-26 we are delivering two member benefits designed to strengthen impact, collaboration, and student success across the CBHE sector. Both are rooted in sector needs and co-created with colleagues who share a commitment to widening participation and supporting diverse learners to thrive.
Student Success in Focus: Progression, Retention, and Support that Works
A Strategic Learning Series for CBHE
Retention and progression remain some of the most pressing challenges for college-based higher education. Student Success in Focus offers a dedicated space for CBHE leaders and practitioners to explore these issues together, share evidence-informed approaches, and co-develop practical solutions.
Through two interactive online workshops, the series will highlight national trends, proven strategies, and innovative models of student support tailored to the realities of CBHE. Participants will leave with actionable insights and tools that can be applied immediately in their own contexts.
Workshop 1 – Thursday 22 January 2026, 1-4 pm (TBC)
Workshop 2 – Thursday 23 April 2026, 1-4 pm (TBC)
Who should attend? Programme leaders, curriculum managers, student support leads, teaching and learning professionals, and institutional heads responsible for quality and learner experience.
Strengthening the CBHE Network
Driving Scholarly and Strategic Impact
The CBHE Network plays a vital role in raising the profile, influence, and scholarly contribution of college-based higher education. This initiative offers opportunities to connect, collaborate, and shape sector priorities through a combination of network meetings, collaborative projects, and a national face-to-face event in July 2026.
By taking part, members will help identify shared priorities, generate tangible outputs (such as case studies or joint projects), and ensure CBHE voices are heard in national higher education conversations.
Who should engage? CBHE leaders, programme and teaching leads, academic practitioners, and colleagues driving change in HE within FE contexts.
Future dates for the networks are as follows, with timings to be confirmed:
- Friday 5 December 2025, 1-2:30 pm
- Friday 6 February 2026, 1-2:30 pm
- Friday 17 April 2026, 1-2:30 pm
- Friday 22 May 2026, 1-2:30 pm
Why get involved?
Both initiatives are designed to:
- Build shared understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities within CBHE.
- Provide practical strategies and collaborative outputs that can inform local enhancement work.
- Strengthen the visibility, influence, and collective voice of the CBHE community
CBHE Network Festival of Scholarly Activity and Research 2026
Date: Tuesday 7 July 2026 | Place (TBC)
Advance HE’s College-Based HE members are working hard to create an HE culture in FE settings, as well as developing research and scholarly activity.
This annual festival celebrates the excellent work being undertaken by CBHE practitioners, and provides an opportunity to share practice, collaborate, and develop as a collective group.
If you would like to register an interest in attending or presenting at the 2026 CBHE Network Festival of Scholarly Activity and Research, please fill out the form.
Meet the Chair
I wanted to take on the role of Chair for the CBHE Network because I strongly believe that FE colleges offering Higher Education provide their communities with much more than just an education. I aim to build on the excellent work the network has already accomplished, co-create, and amplify our CBHE voice across the tertiary sector. I am dedicated to advancing the mission and vision of the Advance HE CBHE Network and look forward to collaborating with everyone."Vicky Burroughs, Assistant Principal: Higher Education, Grŵp Colegau NPTC Group of Colleges and Chair for the CBHE Network
CBHE Scholarly Activity & Research Toolkit
This toolkit has been devised through collaboration with the Advance HE College-based HE (CBHE) Network Group. It’s a positioning resource to help providers and practitioners understand what they already have in place regarding their research culture, with advice and guidance to take the next steps.
The toolkit provides guidance and links to helpful resources to support CBHE providers in developing scholarly activity and research within their institutions and as part of an HE culture. Practitioners can dip in and out of the toolkit without needing to start back at the beginning.
Advance HE CBHE Network Collection on the National Teaching Repository
This collection, which sits within the National Teaching Repository, is designed to be a one-stop shop of resources geared towards helping academics, lecturers, researchers and other staff working in college-based higher education to understand, access, use and share scholarly activity. The collection has been convened by Advance HE’s College-Based HE Network.
The CBHE Repository provides a platform for researchers to share their ideas with others on a dedicated open-access searchable resource database. This helps your work reach a much wider audience and prevents repetition of work across academics. You can share your ideas, download others’, and apply them immediately in your practice.
You can find the collection here
Further details and resources on how to submit to the collection can be found in the resources section of the CBHE Network's Connect page.
Previous years' festivals
Festival 2025
The Festival celebrated the excellent work of CBHE practitioners and provided an opportunity to share practice, collaborate, and develop as a collective. This year’s Festival showcased a wide range of CBHE activity, shaped by contributions from CBHE practitioners.
The keynote speaker was Dr Sebastian Groh, who explored how we can use compassionate approaches in our teaching to help our students flourish and get the most out of their college education. This included creating ‘brave’ spaces where students feel safe to push their boundaries and take risks in their learning. Delegates discussed and shared experience on how a compassionate approach of removing barriers championing inclusivity can empower both educators and students to create these spaces.
Dr Sebastian Groh
The AdvanceHE College-based Higher Education conference was fantastic. It was easy to book onto, the agenda was clear, and the venue and structure of the day was very good. The sessions differed and were interesting. It was great to network with practitioners from across the UK and I have come away with lots of ideas and practices I'd like to share with my colleagues.Event Attendee, CBHE Festival 2025
Thank you for an incredible event. It was an extremely valuable experience for our institution, where sharing scholarship and research is still developing. The event provided a vital opportunity to engage with best practice, build confidence in disseminating research, and strengthen our sense of belonging within the wider higher education community. Most importantly, it reminded us of the importance of College-Based Higher Education and inspired us to further embed scholarship and research as a key part of our HE identityEvent Attendee, CBHE Festival 2025
Festival 2024
This year’s one-day event took place on 8 July at University Centre Peterborough, with the theme of 'Celebrating College-based Higher Education’.
The CBHE Festival was informative and inspirational, it was lovely to see in some of the talks how passionate people were about their subject areas and students, it also provided an opportunity to share good practice. It was clear to see that we all want the best for our HE students, for them to achieve beyond their expectations, and to be there to support them throughout their educational paths, after all, learning is a journey to help them reach their destination.''Angharad Morgan, Senior Officer: HE Quality & Standards, University Campus - NPTC Group of Colleges
Really great opportunity to connect with others in CBHE. Especially where we don’t traditionally get the opportunity to be as well represented at other conferences. Great to meet people with the same challenges and aspirations for their learners."Toni Phillips, Academic coach, Newcastle College University Centre
Festival 2023
The CBHE Network curated an event in 2023 centred around College-Based Higher Education (CBHE), with themes including widening participation, teaching and learning methods, mental health, research engagement, artificial intelligence (AI), precarious employment, and HEI-SME alliances.
The event commenced with a welcome keynote by Dr Nena Skrbic, followed by presentations from various experts. Topics included the role of higher education in widening participation, staff experiences in teaching methods, the impact of mental health on teaching and learning, research engagement, the effects of remote teaching on student skills, and the potential of AI in research support.
Attendees had the opportunity to select from breakout sessions on confidence building, writing practices, addressing precarious employment, and utilising AI in college contexts. Networking and discussions on HEI-SME alliances, modernising education, and understanding group diversity were also part of the program.
The event culminated with presentations on enhancing student persistence, research and scholarship journeys, raising student achievement, and a talk on Fellowship and the Professional Standards Framework by Raj Dhimar, Senior Advisor at Advance HE.
Members can use the link below to access the resources from the event.
It's a great opportunity to meet colleagues and know their work. Hoping to collaborate with colleagues to carryout some interesting research."Mahruf Shohel, The Bedford College Group, Research and Development Manager
Network members
| Institutions | |
|---|---|
| Askham Bryan College | Barnsley College |
| Bedford College Group | Belfast Metropolitan College |
| Birmingham Metropolitan College | Bishop Burton College |
| Blackpool and The Fylde College | Bolton College |
| Bradford College | Bridgend College - Coleg Penybont |
| Calderdale College | Cardiff and Vale College |
| Chichester College Group | City College Norwich |
| City of Bristol College | Coleg Cambria |
| Coleg Gwent | Cornwall College |
| David Game College | DN Colleges Group |
| East Lancashire Learning Group | East Sussex College Group |
| Education Partnership North East | Gower College Swansea |
| Grwp Llandrillo Menai | Hartpury University and Hartpury College |
| Heart of Worcestershire College | Hugh Baird College of FE |
| Hull College Group | Lakes College West Cumbria |
| Leeds College of Building | London South East Colleges (LSEC) |
| Loughborough College Group | Luminate Education Group |
| Middlesbrough College | Morley College |
| Moulton College | Myerscough College |
| NCG | Neath Port Talbot College Group |
| New College Durham | Newham College Centre |
| Nottingham College | Preston College |
| Reaseheath College | Salford City College |
| Solihull College | South Eastern Regional College |
| South Gloucestershire and Stroud College | South Thames Colleges Group |
| South West College | Southern Regional College |
| Sparsholt College Hampshire | The City of Liverpool College |
| The Guernsey Institute | The Sheffield College |
| Trafford and Stockport College Group | UCEN Manchester |
| University Campus Oldham | University Centre Peterborough |
| University Centre Somerset | University Centre South Devon |
| University Centre Weston | Warwickshire College |
| West Suffolk College | Wirral Met College |
Network Outputs
Besides the creation of the network itself, other key deliverables include:
Insights report
This report for Advance HE college-based members across the UK summarises the current network and provides recommendations for future outputs.
Online Discussion Space
A curated space on Advance HE Connect where discussion and resource sharing can continue outside of allotted meetings.
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