Universities are central to innovation

08 December 2011

HEFCE welcomes the Government's Innovation and Research Strategy published today, which recognises that universities are a central element to the nation's innovation system.

Continuing commitment to corporate social responsibility

07 December 2011

HEFCE has today published its fourth annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) report, and an updated CSR policy.

Multi-million pound boost for JANET in BIS e-infrastructure investment

01 December 2011

JANET, the system which provides the electronic communication infrastructure for the UK education and research community, will be among the projects to benefit from £31 million of Government investment to improve high capacity networks.

Teaching funding and student number controls consultation outcomes

23 November 2011

HEFCE has today published full details of how the Government's proposals for changes to teaching funding and student number controls will be implemented in 2012-13.

Bids received for 35,811 'margin' places

14 November 2011

On 17 October, HEFCE invited higher education and further education institutions to bid for student places from a 'margin' of up to 20,000 under a new student number control system for 2012-13.

New Head of JISC appointed

07 November 2011

Martyn Harrow, Director of Information Services at Cardiff University, has been appointed as Head of JISC for a fixed term of 9-18 months from 1 February 2012.

New business plan shows how HEFCE will manage change

01 November 2011

Higher education in England is changing and HEFCE has today published a business plan that describes how it will meet the challenges and opportunities of this transition.

HEFCE responds to BIS consultation on a regulatory framework for higher education

28 October 2011

HEFCE has today published its response to government proposals to reform the way higher education is regulated.

HEFCE funds training resources to improve equality and diversity among researchers

27 October 2011

A unique pack of training resources addressing equality and diversity in research staff careers has been published through the HEFCE-funded Every Researcher Counts project.

Student number controls for 2012-13

17 October 2011

HEFCE has today (17 October) published information on the new approach it will use to implement the control on the number of full-time students that universities and colleges can recruit for 2012-13. This includes information about the process for bidding for 20,000 places which will be redistributed.

Interim Regulatory Partnership Group formed to oversee HE transition

30 September 2011

A new group has been set up by HEFCE and the Student Loans Company (SLC) to advise on and oversee the transition to the new regulatory and funding systems for higher education. It is called the Interim Regulatory Partnership Group and met for the first time on 12 September.

Commitment to widening participation continues

29 September 2011

HEFCE and the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) have today (29 September 2011) published a joint report on our monitoring of widening participation strategic assessments and access agreements for 2009-10.

Leadership Foundation and HEFCE announce £1 million to stimulate efficiencies in higher education

20 September 2011

The Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LF) and HEFCE have today announced a £1 million Innovation and Transformation Fund.

Working group on expanding access to published research findings

16 September 2011

A new independent working group has been set up to examine how UK-funded research findings can be made more accessible.

UK universities contribute £3 billion to economic growth; SMEs play vital role

15 September 2011

Analysis by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) of the tenth annual Higher Education – Business and Community Interaction survey shows the total value of UK knowledge exchange increased by 4 per cent from £2.97 billion in 2008-09 to £3.09 billion in 2009-10.

Latest report on strategic subjects shows sustainability and value for money

09 September 2011

HEFCE has continued since 2009 to invest in measures to increase and diversify demand for, and sustain and re-shape the supply of, strategically important subjects: chemistry; engineering; maths; physics; quantitative social science; and modern foreign languages and related area studies.

HEFCE welcomes latest graduate destination survey

01 September 2011

The Higher Education Funding Council for England welcomes the latest Longitudinal Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, which shows that employment rates remain high for graduates three-and-a-half years after leaving higher education.

New Board members announced

26 August 2011

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced three new members of the HEFCE Board.

Eight out of 10 higher education students give their courses top marks

17 August 2011

The satisfaction rate for students studying at UK higher education institutions (HEIs) and further education colleges (FECs) remains high, with 83 per cent saying they are satisfied overall with their course in this year's National Student Survey (NSS). A further 8 per cent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their higher education experience; and only 9 per cent were dissatisfied.

Million pound boost for modern foreign languages

10 August 2011

HEFCE has announced an additional £1.2 million to support the Routes into Languages initiative.

HEFCE comments on publication of BIS consultation on a new regulatory framework for higher education

04 August 2011

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has today (4 August) published a technical consultation on a new regulatory framework for higher education (Note 1).

HEFCE, RCUK and UUK joint statement on impact

21 July 2011

HEFCE, Research Councils UK (RCUK), and Universities UK (UUK) today issued a joint statement on impact.

'Opportunity, choice and excellence in higher education': HEFCE publishes strategy statement

14 July 2011

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is today (14 July) publishing a strategy statement setting out its overall approach to implementing the Government's proposals for higher education reform in the recent White Paper (Note 1). It also identifies a number of high-level objectives in relation to research and knowledge exchange.

HEFCE statement on OFFA access agreements

12 July 2011

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) today welcomes the announcement by the Office of Fair Access (OFFA) that access agreements have been approved for 141 universities and colleges in England (Note 1).

Internship schemes boost students' job prospects

06 July 2011

A report published today (6 July) shows how HEFCE funding for internships during the recession has boosted graduate employment and employability, increased the number of businesses working with higher education and increased the number of people participating in internships.

Consultation on funding for teaching and student number allocation in 2012-13

30 June 2011

Following publication of the higher education White Paper, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has today launched the first stage of a consultation on future arrangements for funding higher education teaching and allocating student numbers (Note 1).

HEFCE welcomes higher education White Paper

28 June 2011

Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive of HEFCE, has welcomed the Government's White Paper, 'Higher education: students at the heart of the system' (Note 1).

HEFCE funding of £10 million to cut carbon emissions

27 June 2011

HEFCE today invites applications for funding from the second phase of the Revolving Green Fund (RGF) for projects to reduce carbon emissions.

Cloud services for education and research – projects and partners announced

23 June 2011

HEFCE and JISC are moving forward in delivering cloud-based services for UK education and research.

Universities and colleges to provide key information for students

16 June 2011

From September 2012, prospective higher education students will have easy access to the new Key Information Set (KIS) to help them choose what and where to study.

Good estates management makes universities and colleges more efficient and sustainable

13 June 2011

Universities and colleges across the UK are continuing to improve the quality of their buildings and to use them more efficiently, according to a report published today (13 June) by HEFCE.

HEFCE welcomes PAC report

07 June 2011

Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive of HEFCE, has welcomed a report by the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, 'Regulating financial sustainability in higher education', published today (Note 1).

£600 million for universities to speed the UK economy further into growth

26 May 2011

HEFCE announced today (26 May) funding of £600 million for 2011-12 to 2014-15 for universities to help with the recovery and growth of the economy (See note 1). This follows the Government's decision to continue higher education innovation funding (HEIF) and to reform it to focus on the highest-performing universities working with businesses.

Research Councils UK and HEFCE work together on open access

25 May 2011

Research Councils UK (RCUK) and HEFCE have announced plans to work together to ensure greater open access to published research. In a speech to the Association of British Science Writers yesterday (24 May), David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, outlined the joint commitment RCUK and HEFCE are making to ensure that open access becomes a reality.

HEFCE support boosts strategically important and vulnerable subjects

25 May 2011

HEFCE's support for strategically important and vulnerable subjects (SIVS) has enabled courses in these subjects to be sustained, has built research capacity and provided value for money, according to an evaluation published today.

HEFCE launches consultation on its equality scheme

23 May 2011

A draft equality scheme for HEFCE is being consulted on from today. Views on whether our approach to equality and diversity is appropriate are welcomed. The deadline for responses is 29 July 2011.

Awards enhance medical research

20 May 2011

HEFCE and the Wellcome Trust jointly celebrated the success of the Clinical Senior Lectureship Awards (CSLA) at a meeting of over 100 of the award holders earlier this week.

Vacancies on strategic advisory committees

18 April 2011

HEFCE wishes to make a number of new appointments to its committees. These positions provide a unique opportunity to contribute to higher education at a time of significant change and transition in the sector. The main areas of this web-site - accessed through the tabs above - provide further information about our strategic activities.

QAA announces new review method

31 March 2011

Following consultation, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has announced a new method of institutional review. The new method is described in a handbook and operational description published by QAA today.

Capital investment funding to support teaching and research announced

17 March 2011

HEFCE has announced funding totalling £662 million for capital investment to support teaching and research in 128 higher education institutions and 124 further education colleges (see Note 1). The announcement covers allocations for teaching for 2011-12 and 2012-13, and for research from 2011-12 to 2014-15 (see Note 3).

£6.5 billion announced for universities and colleges in England

17 March 2011

HEFCE will distribute £6,507 million to 130 universities and higher education colleges, and 124 directly funded further education colleges, for the academic year 2011-12 (see Notes 1 and 2).

BIS is seeking to appoint members to the HEFCE Board

11 March 2011

The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) wishes to appoint three new HEFCE Board members.

Universities face the future from a sound financial position

07 March 2011

Universities are facing a significant period of transition in the next few years, with reductions in public funding, and a move to a new student finance and funding regime from 2012. However, they do so from a sound financial position, according to the Higher Education funding Council for England, which published a review of their finances today (7 March).

HEFCE welcomes NAO report on financial sustainability

04 March 2011

Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive of HEFCE, has welcomed the National Audit Office (NAO) report 'Regulating financial sustainability in higher education', which was published today (see note Note 1)

Weighting of research impact confirmed for 2014 Research Excellence Framework

01 March 2011

The four UK higher education funding bodies have today announced how they will recognise and reward excellent research that has led to wider social and economic benefits.

Research Excellence Framework (REF) panel members announced

21 February 2011

The REF team on behalf of the four UK funding bodies today announced the membership of the expert panels for the REF 2014.

Publication of studies on flexible and innovative provision

18 February 2011

HEFCE has published three studies relating to flexible and innovative provision: 'Diverse provision in higher education: options and challenges', 'Costing study of accelerated two-year honours degrees: a report to HEFCE by Liz Hart Associates', and 'Flexible Learning Pathfinders: key statistics 2008-09' (HEFCE 2011/05).

Involving students at all levels of university development is vital for success

17 February 2011

The new arrangements for higher education funding mean that the active involvement of students at all levels of university development and decision making will become even more important in the future, Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive of HEFCE told a conference today.

National Scholarship Programme will support access and social mobility

10 February 2011

The Deputy Prime Minister has today outlined the proposed shape and scope of the National Scholarship Programme.

HEFCE welcomes JISC review findings

08 February 2011

The HEFCE Board has welcomed a review which makes recommendations about the future of UK higher and further education's information and communications technology (ICT) organisation, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). (See note 1)

Shared services in cloud computing to be funded by HEFCE

07 February 2011

Universities and colleges in England stand to benefit from a new programme of services and investment to deliver efficiencies through shared services in cloud computing infrastructure and applications (see note Note 1).

HEFCE announces funding for universities and colleges in 2011-12

02 February 2011

HEFCE announced today (2 February 2011) the main decisions made by the Board at its meeting on 28 January on the provisional distribution of funding to universities and colleges in 2011-12.

Summary of 2011-12 grant tables (March 2011)

A strategic approach to online learning is essential for higher education that meets student needs

27 January 2011

Universities and colleges need to make online learning a central part of organisational strategies if they are to meet rapidly changing student demands and stay competitive in the global higher education (HE) market.