This annual report shows how we have taken forward the priorities we identified last year in areas including equality and diversity, the skills pipeline for key industry sectors, the Teaching Excellence Framework and the disproportionate cost and burden of regulation. It shows how we have worked on issues of immediate concern for GuildHE members, like the first admissions cycle since 2020 where GCSE and A Level grades went back to the pre-pandemic approach, and areas where we are supporting members for the long term, like tackling the climate crisis.
It begins by highlighting our key achievements, demonstrating successes in all areas of the GuildHE strategy, and then looks in more detail at our work across a series of themes.
It covers how we work with and support our members including through a wide range of member networks. And it shows how our investment in improving our communications capacity is helping us better highlight the achievements of GuildHE members and the contributions they make to economic growth and to sustaining healthy, creative and vibrant local communities.
As a representative body, GuildHE has responsibilities to the HE sector more widely and this report covers our activities in areas like teaching quality and standards, free speech and academic governance as well as through our work as a company member of many of the sector agencies.
The report looks at our work with the government, including how we are contributing to the detailed policy design that is crucial to making a success of large scale reforms like the Lifelong Learning Entitlement. It also describes our major project, showing how higher education regulation could be reformed to be more effective, proportionate and accountable.
We provide detail on the work and support provided by GuildHE Research, including through the doctoral festival, our work on research integrity, shared services and through a number of events and workshops. We also cover the work of UKADIA in supporting specialist arts education including through strengthening our relationship with Creative UK and forging new collaborations with other creative higher education organisations.
Finally, we report on our work directly with students, including through supporting governance in students’ unions, and our engagement with wider society.
Gordon McKenzie
Chief Executive GuildHE