A constantly evolving university

Vision 2028 – Year 4

As an institution, the University continued to go from strength to strength in 2021/22 as we progressed through year four of our Vision 2028 strategy.

Our Connected Campus programme enhanced our physical and digital infrastructure; our innovative Dual Delivery educational framework (evolved to Technology Enhanced Active Learning in autumn 2022) bolstered student engagement with synchronous online and in-person learning; our partnership with Siemens to become net zero as an institution by 2030 served as a model for higher education; and our research, as seen in REF 2021 (Research Excellence Framework), demonstrated real world impact and benefit in areas such as health, social policy and sustainability; 55 per cent of the University’s overall institutional submission was rated 'world leading' or 'internationally-excellent'.

Perhaps most importantly, as we seek to become the country’s leading careers-intensive university, we focused on advancing our primary objectives - to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to move seamlessly from their studies to the continuously shifting world of work and Industries 4.0 and 5.0, and to support the growth of a diverse talent pipeline.

We are bringing together education, industry and talent in a new education and skills social value partnership, challenging employers to move away from old-fashioned proxies for talent and supporting employers and enterprises to access, grow and keep the best talent, wherever it is found.

This triple helix approach of University, student and industry is being externally recognised: recent honours include Best Employability Strategy at the 2022 Target Jobs Awards; Best University Employability Strategy at the 2022 National Graduate Recruitment Awards; and Most Innovative Approach to Supporting Students at the 2021 Pearson HE Innovate Awards.

There is still much to accomplish, but we can be proud of all we have achieved. This annual report looks back on a year of accomplishments from year four of Vision 2028.