Advance HE unveils 10 priorities to enhance higher education governance

Advance HE has today published, ‘Shaping the Future of HE Governance – Ten priorities to further improve higher education governance’, the findings of its ‘Big Conversation’ on higher education governance. 

The report draws from wide-ranging engagement, conducted in partnership with the Committee of University Chairs (CUC), Association of Heads of University Administration (AHUA), Universities UK, GuildHE and Independent HE (IHE), which examined the effectiveness of current governance arrangements, considered good practice from other sectors and identified what needs to improve or change. 

The ‘Big Conversation’ considered four core themes: whether governing bodies receive the right information to focus on long-term strategy alongside immediate financial concerns; the purpose of governance in creating financially and socially sustainable institutions in the public interest; enabling effective decision-making through structure, culture and skills; and the governance role in navigating strategic change including mergers and acquisitions. 

The ‘Big Conversation’ explored the diversity of provider types, missions and individual contexts across higher education.  

Culture recognised as crucial differentiator 

The research identified culture as the biggest factor determining the difference between highly effective and less effective boards. This requires sophisticated relationships between executives and boards, particularly between heads of institutions and chairs, characterised by openness, constructive challenge and ‘healthy tension’. It also requires effective training and development for chairs, governors, executive teams and governance professionals. 

Ten priorities for governance improvement  

The review identified 10 key areas for continued improvement: 

1. Enhanced board composition - actively reflecting on size, skills and diversity to meet evolving sector challenges
2. Proactive scenario planning - engaging boards more effectively in stress testing assumptions and forecasts
3. Agile decision-making - improving meeting cycles and focusing ruthlessly on strategic, regulatory or materially significant matters
4. Technology integration - leveraging digital solutions for more effective governance processes and information sharing
5. Governor development - raising expectations for continuous professional development throughout terms of service
6. Increased transparency - telling the governance story more openly and creatively to staff, students, partners and society
7. Academic governance integration - strengthening links between corporate and academic governance structures
8. Regulatory compliance demonstration - more proactive and transparent approaches to showing adherence to codes and regulations
9. Remuneration consideration - exploring benefits and challenges of payment to secure talent, raise expectations and improve diversity
10. Partnership collaboration - being more open-minded about strategic partnerships and shared services. 

Commenting on the findings, Alistair Jarvis CBE, Chief Executive of Advance HE, said:  

"The insights from our Big Conversation provide a foundation and stimulus for meaningful change and improvement. These 10 priorities will shape how Advance HE evolves its approach to governance support, board effectiveness and development. At the heart of good governance is culture - and this should be central to efforts to enhance governance. 

"While there are examples of excellent practice, it is necessary and important for institutions to regularly review, evolve and improve their governance arrangements. As the context and issues change, higher education governance also needs to adapt to meet new challenges. There are also weaknesses which should be the focus for improvement. 

“Diversity and differences exist, and this is appropriate to reflect the diversity of missions and scales which need differing governance arrangements.” 

The findings will be presented at a Big Conversation summative event on 10 September and inform Advance HE's future governance support programmes, the 2025 Governance Conference and feed into the CUC’s current review of higher education governance.