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13 February 2004

Continuing success in developing links between HE and business

The third annual survey (HEFCE 2004/07) to measure the level of interaction between HEIs and business and the community in the UK shows substantial development in their links and activity.

The 2003 higher education-business interaction (HE-BI) survey was carried out by HEFCE covering activities in 2001-02. All higher education institutions in the UK responded to the questionnaire. The survey shows continuing improvement in HE-business and community interactions by almost every indicator.

Key findings of this year compared with last year's survey include:

  • substantial increases in employment and turnover from HE spin-off companies despite a small decrease in the number formed
  • 19 per cent increase in the disclosure of new inventions
  • 85 per cent of HEIs provide enquiry services for small to medium-sized enterprises
  • increase in income from consultancy of almost one-fifth to over £122 million
  • numbers of full-time equivalent staff employed in HEI business and community offices has risen from 1,529 to 1,836
  • the public sector is now the highest priority business area replacing the IT industry in the 2002 survey; the cultural and creative sector also scores highly.

Commenting on the survey, Sir Howard Newby, Chief Executive of the HEFCE, said: 'These results clearly demonstrate the high level of commitment which higher education institutions have to their business partners. This confirms the findings of the recent Lambert report that shows a marked culture change in the UK's universities over the past decade. And that most of them are actively seeking to play a broader role in the regional and national economy.'

The survey gathers information on a wide range of knowledge transfer activities, including licensing of technology, support for regional regeneration, provision of professional training courses and consultancy. It also asks HEIs about their strategic policies, priorities and resourcing in activities involving business and the wider community. Comparisons have been made between years and 'research profile' of institutions only where data are judged to be robust. Data are compared by region as well as nation for the first time this year.

Notes

'Higher education-business interaction survey 2001-02' (HEFCE 2004/07) is available on the HEFCE web-site.

The HE-BI survey is managed by HEFCE on behalf of a range of organisations which includes the UK funding bodies, the Office of Science and Technology, DfES, UUK, SCOP, HM Treasury and HE and business sector representative bodies. Compared with the 2000-01 survey, this year's survey was completed by more respondents and the quality of the data is significantly improved.

Business- and community-related activities in HE have developed substantially since the survey began in 1999. In view of this, the HE-BI questionnaire will be reviewed for the 2004 survey (which gathers information on 2002-03 activity). New questionnaires are expected to be sent to HEIs in spring 2004 with returns requested in early summer.